The Four Founders' Hunt
by Author Name Changed
Summary: Finished! AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. However, they soon become the hunted. Without someone's help, they'd die... But what does he want in return? Review,guys!
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted. Alone, they can't survive. And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
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Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff were raising their glasses for the new school.  
  
"A beauty, isn't she?" asked Godric. "Thirty difficult years, but it was worth it."  
  
"I agree on that, brother" answered his sworn brother, Salazar. "And all the greatest we shall teach! All the ones with unstained blood."  
  
"Great minds." added Rowena.  
  
"And a great deal of courage, too!" said the brave Gryffindor.  
  
"Yes, yes, we all know you need it" Helga teased. "How's the Sorting Hat doing?"  
  
"It should be finished in one or two months" Rowena answered. "That means before the first students come! But oh, we've sent the letters! I can't believe it's actually going to happen!"  
  
The others smiled at her enthusiasm.  
  
"I say. Shan't we all go to bed?" asked Helga. "I know hunting makes me tired and I don't want to start like that, or I might not make it back."  
  
"We'll carry you, sister" said Rowena. "We did once, remember?"  
  
"Stop teasing!" she said and smiled.  
  
They entered the castle, beautifully shinning under the silver light of the stars and the moon and from there, they all went to their rooms, saying their goodnights.  
  
Rowena smiled at the changing stairs. They had taken a while to do, but they showed so well the caliber of the students they would have.  
  
Godric grinned when he saw the passages. Ah, so many things to explore for his students! He knew they would love them. And so fun it was to have pesky stairs always changing. And you could blame it on the stairs if you didn't make it in class early enough. How he wished he'd had those at his former school!  
  
Helga really liked the self-lighting torches. Never get lost and lightless! And you didn't need 'lumos'. Wasn't life beautiful?  
  
Salazar grinned at the dungeons. Ah, so cold, so mysterious, so snake-like! How he liked snakes. Well, he was a Parselmouth, wasn't he? And the things they added, all the magic, all that showed how powerful they were! Ha! The best in the world, actually! Nobody could do that kind of magic! And even though nothing was alive, it all seemed so.  
  
The founders lay in their beds, resting, unaware of all the danger they would have to face. Unaware that somewhere, some wanted them dead, especially before the war began. Because the war was about to begin. and none knew who the leader of the Dark side was. But for now, they slept in peace, happy with their work.  
  
The next morning, they mounted their horses and left off for some of their favorite hunting spots. Their bows and arrows were carefully taken care of and their wands were safe in their pockets, as always. Right now, they were hunting a stag. Wonderful creature.  
  
"Salazar, what do your little friends say?" asked Godric. He admired the other man's gift. He wished he could talk to griffins.  
  
The other man stopped and looked at a slithering being in the grass, Godric watching him in fascination.  
  
*- Where isss the ssstag?-* he asked.  
  
*-Ssshould be clossse-* the small snake said. The snakes around were already used to the weird man that could talk their language. *-I sssaw it about five minutesss ago and it went where the sssun sssetsss-*  
  
*-Thanksss-* Salazar said. "He said the stag is close, he saw it just five minutes ago and it went towards west"  
  
The others nodded and guided their horses in that direction.  
  
"We should get some horses to pull the carriages to the school" Helga said. "They're so wonderful!"  
  
"I had that in mind too, sister. How about Thestrals?" Godric said.  
  
"Not all will see them" she complained.  
  
"It would be more interesting, don't you think?"  
  
She nodded. Maybe it would work.  
  
They kept going through the forest, enjoying themselves and killing nothing since they didn't have the heart to harm any living creature on that glorious day. Hogwarts was finally ready for its students!  
  
When the evening came, they all decided to go back to their school and rest for a looong time. Hunting was fun, but tiring business.  
  
And just then, their horses started to become more and more impatient and Godric's rose on two feet.  
  
"Whoa!" he said, trying to calm it down. "Whoa! What's wrong?"  
  
And then his question was answered, although in a way he wished it hadn't been. Nearly twenty people came out from behind the trees in the little clearing they were in. And he could tell from the beginning what they were: vampires.  
  
They were showing their way too long teeth and charging for them, hungry looks in his eyes. But did they really know what they were facing? Even tired, the founders were quite powerful.  
  
"Shit!" Salazar cried, looking at the charging people.  
  
"No shit!" commented Godric and charged at them with his sword and a wooden stick he got from a tree. Not too good, but it would have to do. Especially since he had forgotten he was a wizard!  
  
The others started shooting spells -evidently remembering their magical powers- and trying to hit them with anything, but the vampires seemed to be getting more instead of less every time they shot one down. Here, another one turned to dust only so that two others would appear there.  
  
One of the vampires managed to stab Godric's horse with a sword of his own, killing it. Godric barely managed to get out of the way before he was crushed by the horse's body. But facing a pack of angry, hungry and fast vampires wasn't too pleasant either.  
  
Salazar was hitting them with everything he had when he saw what state his friend was in.  
  
"We're losing!" he cried to the others, as if they hadn't seen it yet. "Godric, get yourself safe, for God's sake!"  
  
Not a bad advice, either. Since he was the only one left horseless, he was attacked the most and had way more vampires on his hands than he could handle.  
  
"I'm trying!" he cried back. "Ok, maybe a bit of help!"  
  
But whom to help him? They were all too busy with their own enemies. He danced his way out of there and managed to get himself near a tree. Well, at least now his back assured.  
  
Rowena had her own problems and soon her horse was down soon, too.  
  
"By gum!" she cried. "These guys are determined!"  
  
She got herself up from the ground, not a moment too soon. Her wand was casting spells with the speed of light and she wished she could cast a spell to freeze them all and then get the hell out of there. Hmmm. She was sure there was one like that somewhere.  
  
Soon, Helga too was left horseless and ended up in a tree. Nobody asked her how she had gotten there. Salazar was the last to lose his companion and he didn't seem too pleased with the situation.  
  
"My best horse" he said, pissed off.  
  
"Let's hope it's the most you lose tonight!" Godric cried.  
  
Indeed, the battle was getting worse and worse. Helga was hardly keeping herself balanced in the tree and the vampires were climbing on it way too easy. Godric was starting to get tired, not a good thing when so many hungry vampires are attacking you. Rowena was in the middle of it all, petrified vampires all around and fire bursting out of her wand, along with hexes. A trick of hers. Not as good as freezing everything around, but good enough. Salazar was trying to gather snakes, but they were too few and too small to help too much.  
  
Rowena understood, somewhere in a far corner of her mind, that the school was dead before it even came to life. Dead because they were the only ones who would be teaching, the only ones who knew the exact ideas of the school. The hunt which would have been the celebration of the school's birth was now the celebration and cause of its death.  
  
All this she registered somewhere far away in her mind, concentrating a lot on the lost battle. Because it was lost now, that was sure.  
  
Or, was she wrong? Not a moment too soon, a dark, cloaked and hooded figure, on a black beautiful horse galloped into the battle and jumped off the horse, the black animal leaving soon.  
  
Without one word, the figure attacked the vampires around him. The vampires started to turn to dust faster than Rowena thought possible. She stabbed her own vampires with a new burst of power and so did the others. The battle was no longer lost, they had a new warrior within them, one that could kill the things so easily!  
  
After not even five minutes the left vampires fled out of the clearing and left their petrified friends alone with the founders and the cloaked, no longer hooded person.  
  
That cloaked figure was a man, tall and powerful, looking not a day over thirty. A little something that made him special was the sense of power around him. Maybe the fact that he had a scar under his left eye was special, too. Helga somehow managed to get herself off the tree.  
  
"Thank you" she said. "You saved our lives"  
  
"I have" he admitted calmly. If she was expecting an 'it wasn't much', she was greatly mistaking.  
  
"We owe you one, brave warrior!" Godric said.  
  
"You do" he again admitted.  
  
"How can we repay you?" asked Rowena.  
  
The man smiled.  
  
"It would be a great payment I would ask if you decided to repay me."  
  
"It doesn't matter" Godric said.  
  
"Would it be money that you want?" Salazar asked. "Two thousand galleons?"  
  
The man started laughing.  
  
"No, two thousand galleons is not enough."  
  
"Three?" asked Rowena.  
  
"No" he said, smiling amused.  
  
"Four?" asked Helga.  
  
"No"  
  
"Five? Six? Seven? Tens of thousands of galleons?" Godric asked, each time the man shaking his head. "Then what? Help, maybe?"  
  
"You want us to help you do something?" Rowena asked.  
  
"We'd help!" Helga said.  
  
"We would" Salazar added, eyeing the man. Who was he?  
  
"Nor help nor money is what I want" he answered.  
  
"Then what?" asked Rowena.  
  
He looked at them and smiled.  
  
"You are the ones who built the school, right?"  
  
"Yes, yes, we are!" Helga said enthusiastically. He knew about them!  
  
"Hogwarts you have named it, haven't you?" the man asked. Salazar didn't like where this was going. Neither did Rowena.  
  
"Yes, Hogwarts" Helga said. "You want us to change the name of the school?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and he burst into laughter.  
  
"No, the name's just fine." he answered.  
  
"Then?" Helga asked.  
  
"I want something of a different nature."  
  
"Don't tell us you fell in love with one of us" Helga said.  
  
"Then, I won't" he said and she made a weird face.  
  
"Tell us if you did" she mumbled.  
  
"I didn't tell you" he toyed with her.  
  
"I meant fall in love, have you fallen in love with one of us?"  
  
"No" he said and smiled. "A different nature is the pay I want"  
  
"Who are you?" Salazar voiced his thoughts and the man turned towards him.  
  
"They call me Jack Strois, Slytherin"  
  
His brown eyes looked calm into the man's.  
  
"Straw? As in a straw?" asked Rowena.  
  
"No, as in a French name, but with the same pronunciation, bringing me a lot of trouble" he replied. "Why do people think my name's Straw?"  
  
The others took no notice in the rhetorical question.  
  
"And how did you appear here like this?" Salazar asked, distrustful.  
  
"I was around" he replied. "I was around with a reason. And that reason was to find you"  
  
"Us?" Salazar asked.  
  
"Yes, you" Jack said. "As a payment for my deed, I want the school, Hogwarts."  
  
There was a pause for a minute and then Helga started laughing.  
  
"You. you're joking, right?" she asked, hoping he was.  
  
"No, I'm not" he answered and she went quiet. "I want the school."  
  
"You're crazy, we can't give you the school!" Godric said. "It's our life's project, our dream!"  
  
"I know" Jack said, calmly.  
  
"But there wouldn't be a school without him" Rowena said, voicing the thoughts she had had since they had been saved.  
  
"Correct!" Jack said and smiled. "So, will you give me your school?"  
  
"No!" Godric said. "Anything but the school! It's our school! Our school and we're not giving it!"  
  
"I'm with him! There's no way we're leaving Hogwarts!" Helga cried, mad.  
  
"I never said you'd leave it" Jack answered, making her look at him confused. "I'd just have the school, I could do anything with it, but you'd be there. It's your creation. You're the founders. And none has to know."  
  
"We won't let you change our school like that!" Rowena said. "It's worse than dying!"  
  
"I wouldn't let anybody touch it!" Godric said.  
  
"Our school!" Helga said.  
  
"No." Salazar said, calm. "I knew you'd want something too big for you. And who are you, anyway? You just gave us your name, no detail."  
  
Jack smiled to himself.  
  
"I am the Lord of Darkness" he answered and the four stopped arguing with him, instead staring at him in surprise. "That's how I got all the vampires off you."  
  
Oh, they all knew him now! The Lord of Darkness. He was on the Light side, but the man was a wonder. Appearing when he was needed, he had great power and it was said that no thing on the dark side could fight against his will for too long. It was said that he could control demons and shadows. It was said that nobody on the dark side dared oppose him. But it was also said that he was friends with everybody on the light side. He was a Lord of Darkness only by being able to control it, not by belonging to that side. They knew him alright. He was a legend! Wow. He was said to be immortal somehow and that he could summon ancient magic. Now there was a man who could help them with the school. But they'd be damned if they let even him rule it.  
  
"I'm sorry" Rowena said "but we can't give our school even to you."  
  
He smiled.  
  
"I have no intention whatsoever of becoming its ruler. I do have an intention, however, of making it clear who's master, especially after a few years when you would have left the school for others to rule."  
  
"You want the school- why?" asked Helga and all the others had the feeling they could slap themselves. Why didn't they think of that question?  
  
"Hogwarts will become a very threatened place in a while" he replied. "With the threat of the war and all, it needs to be protected."  
  
"And you will protect it why?" Rowena asked.  
  
"That is just for me to know" he answered. "But I bond myself to protect the school whenever it needs help and never become its tyrant. Maybe Headmaster if it needs one, but never a tyrant. I shall leave things the way you make them to be. I vow to do this, if you formally give me the school."  
  
He looked so noble, so serious, so sincere! Maybe it was a good idea.  
  
"On what do you vow?" Salazar asked and the man looked thoughtful.  
  
"I vow in front of the sun, the moon and the stars. I vow in front of this planet. I vow in front of the sky. And if I do not do as I have said, should I be taken by the cores of magic to you and if you will not agree with what I have done, the thing which I had done should be undone and my bonding to Hogwarts be destroyed."  
  
The founders looked at each other. Oh, yeah, he was serious. Definitely.  
  
"Well." Godric started.  
  
"Um." Rowena continued.  
  
"Er." Helga continued.  
  
"Why the hell not?" finished Salazar. "Since you did vow like that."  
  
Jack smiled. It was all going well.  
  
Soon, the founders took him to Hogwarts and he looked at the school. Also his school.  
  
"Well, let's get some wards around, shall we?" he rhetorically asked. "Your Apparition wards are pretty bad."  
  
"How do you know?" Rowena asked, awed. Yes, she knew they weren't too good, but how did he know?  
  
"I know many things" he answered and raised his hands high in the air.  
  
"Don't you need a wand?" Salazar asked.  
  
"Nope" he answered. "I'm old enough to have great power and not need it."  
  
He closed his eyes and concentrated, smiling. Before long, a silver light which seemed to be coming from the moon and stars surrounded him and from him it left for the castle, leaving the founders awed. It was beautiful, silver surrounding the castle.  
  
He finished too soon in their opinion.  
  
"Do you know the older, different magic type of going from a place to another?"  
  
"No" Helga answered, but Rowena had a different answer.  
  
"Yes, opening a window and going through it. But nobody can do that anymore."  
  
Jack looked at her and then waved his hand carelessly, different pictures appearing in front of them, showing people doing different things.  
  
"These can. It is better to be warded against that too"  
  
Again he closed his eyes and raised his hands. The others eagerly expected the same show to appear, but they had a surprise. Instead of just the silver light, there also seemed to be another one there, a pure white one. Again too soon, he finished.  
  
"Hmm, what else, what else?" he asked, not expecting an answer. "Oh, right, a few wards against Muggles."  
  
A new show of lights. and it went on again and again until dawn, the founders watching the light sow awed. And each time Jack put a new ward on the castle. And when the sun was just about to come up.  
  
"And now, the Great Ward of Light!" he cried, victoriously and the founders gaped. But nobody could do that! It was a legendary ward, that protected a place from all darkness unless it was willingly let inside or it had no intention of hurting the ones inside. Legendary. There was nobody who could do it, out of what they knew. And yet, the man seemed to be able to do it!  
  
The show was incredible. The sun beams from the dawn seemed to be all going to Jack, who held his hands up, lost in the red and orange bright light. Also, the silver light from the stars and the setting moon was hitting him. Together, in a very colorful blur, the beams hit the castle, which shone greatly.  
  
When he finished, Jack had a blissful smile on his lips.  
  
"I love doing that." he whispered. "This ward will protect you from all darkness and dark creatures, unless some circumstances occur. And the dark creatures can come in if they have good intentions. So you would be able, for example, to invite a kind vampire to dinner."  
  
"Not a good example" Rowena murmured and Jack looked at her confused and then understood and started laughing.  
  
"No, not a good one at all. Make that a nice werewolf coming to dinner."  
  
He smiled at the castle.  
  
"And one more touch."  
  
He let himself fall on the grass.  
  
"Thank God I don't need to be standing" he said.  
  
He closed his eyes and nothing seemed to happen.  
  
"Do you think he's asleep?" Helga asked after a few minutes.  
  
"They say he doesn't need to sleep" Salazar said. "But I'm starting to doubt it."  
  
"Think we should wake him up?" Godric asked.  
  
"No, maybe he really is doing something" Rowena said. "Who knows."  
  
They sat on the grass themselves and looked at him for about ten minutes, sometimes exchanging a few words. And after about fifteen minutes since he had fallen on the grass, the castle started glowing in different colors and then it stopped. It hadn't been too visible. Suddenly, Jack jumped on his feet, making them all jump up in surprise.  
  
"Well, that's that" he said. "All done."  
  
"What was the last thing you did?" Rowena asked.  
  
"Ah, a great thing. I summoned the core of magic and asked it to guard the castle. And live in it. I do believe the castle is now alive."  
  
"Hogwarts? Alive?" Helga asked, happily. "That would be wonderful!"  
  
Jack smiled and started going to the castle and they all followed. How on Earth did he move so fast? And, oh, how far the last night seemed to be on this sunny morning!  
  
They entered the castle and had the feeling that it was way more alive than when they had left it. The stairs were moving at their own accord.  
  
Jack turned to them and said:  
  
"And now, for the last thing. I will declare that I own Hogwarts in a contract and you will sign it. I will use it if anybody dares do anything wrong with this school!"  
  
He waved his hand and three parchments appeared in front of them.  
  
"You said a contract" Godric said.  
  
"In three copies" Jack replied.  
  
"How do we know you won't change anything in them?" asked Salazar.  
  
"One: you'll have a copy. Two: I'll put a charm on them so they won't be able to be changed, once finished. And three: I give my word I won't"  
  
The others nodded and started reading the parchment.  
  
Us, the four founders of Hogwarts: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin, declare with this contract that the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry now belongs to Jack Strois, the Lord of Darkness.  
  
However, we are still above him in ownership and therefore have the first word to say in all that concerns the school. The second to us will be him, before any of our descendants and before the ones we put in charge.  
  
I, Jack Strois, take with this contract the second place in school command and vow to protect it when it is in need. I will not go against their will, or this contract will be broken and I will have no power whatsoever over the school and the wards I myself have put will turn, if necessarily, against me.  
  
I swear not to do the following: I swear not to take control of the school unless it is necessary. I swear not to change the rules the founders have put in this school without their will. I swear not to change the school system against the founders' will. I swear not to modify in any way the school without their will. I swear not to interfere with the Headmaster's or Headmistress's decisions unless they would come against the founders' will.  
  
I, Jack Strois, Lord of Darkness, have written.  
  
Underneath the text there were the names of the founders plus Jack's and they all signed the three copies and then Jack spelled them so they couldn't be changed or destroyed.  
  
'I thought you wanted to be first in command" Salazar commented.  
  
"Crossed my mind" he admitted. "But I decided not to. I don't think I'll need it. I mean, since it's specifically said that I come before any descendant you might have, it'll do. Oh, mind if I wander around?"  
  
"No, not at all" the four said.  
  
"May I make a room as I wish it to be?" he asked.  
  
"Be our guest" Helga said. "You may change whatever you might like."  
  
Jack smiled and turned away and started going through the castle. He grinned. He had free hand. How about doing the things he was supposed to do now?  
  
He quickly found a room that matched his wishes and decorated it beautifully with golden drawings of dragons and mystical and less mystical creatures. He also made it marble white under the drawings. Man, it was good to have huge powers!  
  
And then he started creating a new room, attached to it, where he placed a fireplace and a lot of armchairs. He decorated it in blue and gold -his favorite combination- and made the armchairs brown. Then, he put two bookcases and he started putting books. Some were copies of what he'd once read. One of them he created so that it would keep an update of what would happen at Hogwarts. He could write it somehow, tell all that happened. Yeah, that'd be good. Maybe make a bit of magic and be able to mind-write it, so that he could think of the sentences and they would appear in the book.  
  
He also placed a book through which he could talk to the one who would enter the room. How he'd enter it, that was the question. Hmmm, maybe he could place a password which could be 'felt' by the one who should enter. More magic. Then again, he was a very powerful wizard. Could be done.  
  
He also invented a system so that the door to the room would actually be through the wall and that while somebody was on the other side of the room it couldn't be opened and it wouldn't be visible from any side if closed.  
  
He also added a way out, just in case and didn't forget to put a few other tunnels here and there, for reasons only he knew.  
  
Perfect! His own room! And the founders didn't have to know.  
  
He exited the room and closed the wall and then smiled to himself. What a masterpiece! And the room he first decorated wasn't bad either. He then went to the founders who were happily eating lunch and smiled at them.  
  
"Changed a room a bit"  
  
"Great!" Helga said. "I'd love to see it! Oh, sorry we didn't invite you for lunch."  
  
"It's ok, I don't need to eat" he answered truthfully and sat down. "Quite a good work you've done with the ceiling of this Hall"  
  
"Yeah, we're pretty proud of that" Salazar said.  
  
"You put so much work in it. There was so much magic here I almost didn't need to call the magic core to live in the castle. A few more years and it would have come by itself."  
  
The founders smiled happily and finished their meals. Jack showed them his room -the one with gold drawings, of course- and the four nodded approvingly.  
  
"I also thought maybe we could place this third parchment in the Headmaster's office?" he asked, referring to the third copy of the contract.  
  
"Headmaster's office?" Helga asked. "But we don't have a Headmaster's office!"  
  
Jack laughed.  
  
"Behind the statue of the gargoyle. What do you think? Would it make a good Headmaster's office? The gargoyle could be guarding it, not just hiding it."  
  
"Sure" Rowena agreed. "You know, you make it sound as if we would be leaving the school anytime soon!"  
  
"Well, I'm an immortal, I have no age problems, but you will one day give your part in the school to the others and after say. a hundred years, who's going to rule it?"  
  
They suddenly realized they hadn't thought of that yet. And didn't want to think about it yet, either.  
  
"I'm sorry if I've depressed you" he said and tried to smile. "But it's just that my life shows me all mortals tend to think they'll live forever, which they don't. I know I will die, it'll just take me waaaay longer. And then I'll turn to Death and she'll show me where my old friends stay ad maybe I'll join them again."  
  
He looked all dreamy and sad and suddenly they all started wondering whether living forever was such a good thing after all. But, not thinking about the bad way it was put, he was right: they'd die sometime and they all had to be prepared for that.  
  
Later that evening, Rowena left for the edge of the forest just outside Hogwarts. She was thinking about all that had been and what would be. Jack looked alright now, but were they sure he'd stay like that? And what would happen to their own sons and daughters when they came to the school? Would all their descendants remain in the school, happily cooperating, or would they split up?  
  
She smiled as she remembered Salazar's little boy. He would grow up soon and come to Hogwarts! In fact, he'd start in fall, at eleven years, such as all the others. And Godric's daughter! Wasn't she beautiful?!  
  
She wished she had a son or a daughter. But all was not lost yet. She was just a bit over fifty, still could have children after the wizard standards. And Helga also.  
  
She smiled thinking of her husband. What a wonderful man he was! And he waited for her for so long. Thirty years. And now she was free. Not that she hadn't been before! But now she could really have a life, her dream was fulfilled! And Helga also wanted to get to her husband.  
  
She stood there, at the edge of the forest, thinking until it almost got dark. Then, she decided she had to get inside, she still didn't want to be bitten by a vampire, as she almost had last night. Las night! It had all happened last night! She wondered if it had been because of the war which was now almost starting. Maybe that king -what was his name? God, she couldn't remember.- would help them and they'd help him. It would all be alright, in the end.  
  
Hogwarts. The Ghost War was about to come. They'd fight against the faceless who was leading the Dark side, the one whom they didn't even know whom he was.  
  
Hogwarts. Hope Offers Great Wins And Receives The Solutions. How many meanings it had, this name! Oh, they knew why they chose it. They would win the war.  
  
She entered the castle and smiled at the moon once more.  
  
The next morning when they woke up, they noticed Jack wasn't around. He didn't appear for lunch or dinner either. Later, they concluded he had left. And they were right.  
  
Far away, he thought of his school and saw it through his mind's eyes. He'd be back. Soon.  
  
/*-/*-/*-  
  
Author's Note: And with this my fic is finished and the reviewing begins! Should I continue? Please tell me if I should or not.  
  
Some of you might have read my 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch Story'. Yes, this is in perfect accord with what I've written there. If you remember, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Amala find the exact room which Jack built and look through it. 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted. Alone, they can't survive. And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"They'll be here soon" said Helga, overactive. "I can't believe it!"  
  
"Do, sister, do!" Godric said and hugged her. "Our first students! And think about them getting sorted into houses, named after us!"  
  
"For now and forever. Amen" Rowena said, in a mock-priest voice. "Soon. Oh, I'm so excited!"  
  
They were all standing in front of the castle on that sunny day, checking for the first signs of the students. Salazar was looking at them amused. He too felt nervous, but he'd be damned if he showed it! And soon, the 'horseless' -for some- carriages would bring the first ever students of Hogwarts. And from the other side of the lake they'd cross it in some boats. And the Sorting Hat was finished. It would sort so well! Oh, yes, everything was going to be -finally- working. The only problem was cleaning the place up. Of course they'd put thousands of self-cleaning spells, but it still was a huge problem to keep the place clean. Hmmm. Had to sort that out later. Along with the 'tons of food' problem. They also needed a cook.  
  
Uh oh. Godric had that mischievous smile. And Rowena too.  
  
"Look what me and Godric put together!" she said and showed what looked like a notebook. "In this we'll record everything that will happen that worth remembering: teachers, students, detentions."  
  
"Brave adventures with lots and lots of danger and rule-braking that need to be remembered." Godric added and Rowena glared at him.  
  
"That-yes, but not from your point of view and I don't want to see you encouraging the students in mischief making. Got it?"  
  
"Yes, yes, my dear Rowena" Godric said. "Of course I won't."  
  
"But he won't discourage them either" Salazar said and smirked. He knew the other too well. "And how about deviously made plans? Will we mark those?"  
  
"Of course. And their punishments, too, as a remembering" Rowena said and smirked when she saw the others' face.  
  
"How about normal life at the castle?" Helga asked.  
  
"Why not? And maybe years from now we'll read and remember" Rowena said.  
  
Salazar smiled. Yep, those were his friends: Rowena 'Athena' Ravenclaw, Godric 'Head First' Gryffindor and Helga 'too Bloody Cheery' Hufflepuff. Well, the 'too bloody' part was added by him. As for he, he was Salazar 'Snaketongue' Slytherin. And they were the Four Founders of Hogwarts. Hey, that sounded good! The Four Founders of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It made them sound like the greatest wizards -and witches- around. Which, by the way, they were.  
  
"They'll be coming soon. I'll go to the boats" Godric said and started going towards the other side of the lake.  
  
"Well, we better go in" Rowena said.  
  
"Are you sure we should?" asked Salazar. "This is Godric we're talking about. He might get them in some dangerous adventure."  
  
The others laughed and went inside.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
The three founders that had gone inside were eagerly awaiting Godric when a person came in. And they all recognized him straight away.  
  
"Jack!" cried Helga.  
  
"Hello!" he cried right back. "What, starting without me? Have you forgotten about me?"  
  
"We haven't seen you since. what June?"  
  
"Yep" he answered cheerfully. "Missed me?"  
  
"Of course!" Helga said and jumped and hugged him. Salazar smiled amused.  
  
"I thought you said we wouldn't make our contract public" Salazar said.  
  
"We're not. I am going to float above your heads in invisible mode."  
  
"What do you mean?" Rowena asked.  
  
Jack smiled and gave the floor a small kick and lifted in the air effortlessly at about half a meter high.  
  
"Holy shit!" Helga said, Rowena gaped and Salazar smiled amused. He should have known.  
  
"Wandless?" he asked. "You're good"  
  
"I should be, at my age" he answered and came closer to the ground. "I have lots of power and, to say it shortly, I can do whatever I like."  
  
"That must be great" Salazar said longingly.  
  
"It is" the man answered. "Godric's coming. I'll just turn myself invisible now"  
  
He did just that and his image faded quickly. The three founders took their seats and awaited eagerly for the students to enter. And they didn't have to wait long. Soon, the doors banged open and Godric lead twenty awed students inside.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Rowena said. "You are our first students ever and we hope to have so many more"  
  
The students looked at the beautiful, wise-looking woman in front of them.  
  
"Salazar, will you please bring the Hat?"  
  
Salazar nodded and brought and brought a three legged-chair from a room just behind the Great Hall with an old-looking hat on it.  
  
"Our dear students" Helga said. "This is the Sorting Hat. All of you will be tested by it. All you have to do is place it on your head and you will be sorted into one of the four Houses we will have, each of them being cared after by one of us. To avoid confusions, we named the Houses after ourselves. While you will study here -for seven years, may we remind you- the House will be your family and you will get help from the Head of the House you've been sorted into. So, let the sorting begin with the song our Sorting Hat will sing!"  
  
The students watched awed how the hat started singing.  
  
"Welcome, welcome, first of all!  
  
In front of us stands Godric, tall,  
  
Gryffindor the bravest Founder  
  
His sword powerful as thunder.  
  
The next I'll call is Ravenclaw,  
  
Wise Rowena, she's much saw  
  
And Salazar, the cunning one,  
  
He likes things so greatly done  
  
Hufflepuff, where students good,  
  
Loyal and hard working stood  
  
And as for me, I'm just a hat.  
  
Nothing more, simple as that.  
  
My meaning here is easily said,  
  
I'll take a peak inside your head  
  
And Sort you where you ought to be  
  
And where you will your real friends see.  
  
But remember, oh, young ones!  
  
Friendship and love everywhere runs,  
  
Not just in your House stand friends,  
  
But also in other the other lands.  
  
Of your Heads example keep  
  
And allies have where your feet lead.  
  
And now, as these great Founders say,  
  
All your wishes come true may!  
  
May you be grow up to be great  
  
May you grow up to be straight!  
  
And may your souls stay forever young  
  
As some great people might have sung!  
  
And now, try me on your head,  
  
And your House soon I will have said!  
  
The students clapped happily. What a great song!  
  
"Well? Try it on!" Helga said. "Ashley Amber"  
  
A girl came to the three-legged stool and put it on her head.  
  
"Gryffindor!" the Hat cried and everybody else clapped happily, maybe Godric more than the others.  
  
"Stuart Singer" Helga said.  
  
The boy went to the Hat and put it on his head.  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Portia Malfoy!"  
  
"Slytherin!"  
  
"Pandora Shirley McKnight!"  
  
"Gryffindor!"  
  
"George Lumber!"  
  
"Hufflepuff!"  
  
It went on and on and on, every single student sitting on the three-legged stool waiting for his house to be cried out. Helga had been a bit saddened by the fact that no student made it in her house, but when George Lumber's House was cried, she had regained her cheer fast.  
  
After that, there was the Feast. They all had fun and ate the dishes that the Founders themselves had cooked and chatted, the students -6 Gryffindors, 4 Hufflepuffs, 5 Ravenclaws and 6 Slytherins- were making friends among their House.  
  
Helga was nearly crying. Rowena was chatting happily with Salazar and Godric. Well, Godric was talking, eating and laughing. All at the same time.  
  
"In one thousand years, our school will have lots of students and nobody will remember this, but some will wonder. What House was the first student sorted in? How was it?" Helga said. "I can see it! It will be more known than any other magic school and children will wonder when they'll be going to Hogwarts. I LOVE MY LIFE!"  
  
"Why a thousand years?" asked Rowena. "Think we won't be just as that before?"  
  
"Oh, yes, but then it will be clear that Hogwarts will never leave and it will have stood against time!"  
  
"It will stand" Salazar said. "It'll stand in a pile of rubbish if we don't find out an answer to the 'cleaning problem'!"  
  
Godric laughed merrily.  
  
"Yeah, what will we do about that?" he asked. "And we need to get a cook. I can't believe we have to cook every single meal!"  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Some time later, they decided it was getting late and lead the students to their dormitories, letting them know passwords and have fun in the common rooms. Then, they returned to the kitchen and started cleaning up.  
  
"Forgot about me again?" asked a voice when they came in the kitchen.  
  
"Jack!"  
  
"Well, you were invisible" Salazar said. "Were we supposed to go in the Great Hall and cry come out, come out wherever you are?"  
  
The other man laughed.  
  
"I guess not. Have you got all this written in that notebook of yours?"  
  
"Yes, we." Rowena started saying. "How did you know that?"  
  
"I know many things" he answered. "It has that wonderful charm you know, Rowena, on it, doesn't it?"  
  
"Why, yes, it does" she answered. "It writes itself. Mostly. We will add a few parts, too"  
  
He smiled.  
  
"Write it all, oh, write it all my children. From beyond time some will read what you write now and all shall be rediscovered."  
  
"What?" Godric asked.  
  
"Babblings of an old fool" he answered. "But I know now that people wish to have writings of the ones who founded Rome or Athens. But I'm afraid I leave you now again. Fare well, my founders. Fare well and farewell."  
  
"Thank you" Rowena said, laughing. "But we'd love to see you soon"  
  
"Maybe you will" he answered and smiled. "Maybe you will"  
  
With a small bow, he exited the kitchens, the Founders saying their goodbyes.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"Hello again, Jack" said a young girl.  
  
"Kate! My dear Kate!" answered the powerful man.  
  
"Have a new scar?"  
  
He laughed.  
  
"It's nothing. I myself have put it there, you know it's good to keep changing my appearance in front of the Muggles."  
  
"I liked you better without it."  
  
They were in a forest, probably Jack's favorite place. The man was always around those parts. In fact, it was actually said he could be in more places in the same time. How did he do that?!  
  
He decided to answer the girl.  
  
"Me too. And I think I'll stay for green or blue eyes. So, how's Death?"  
  
She laughed.  
  
"Being the Death Guardian at the Gate of Ravens can be lots of fun. If you ever decide to come by."  
  
"No thanks, I'll pass."  
  
"Aw, but why? I'd love to see you there just like a mortal."  
  
"That I'll never be" he said, maybe a bit sad.  
  
"Immortality ain't that bad, oh, Lord of Darkness! Yeah, it's true, you're the most unlucky bastard ever to live forever, with all the save-the-day things, but still."  
  
"Thank you for reminding me of my problems."  
  
"Welcomed. And aren't you going to ask me about the Guardian at the Veil?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"I already know"  
  
The man's calm and disinterest was killing her. Well, she had to tell somebody, right? And look! The nerve! He even looked in another direction!  
  
"She's horrible, you know. Rule-obsessed."  
  
"Of course" he calmly answered, still looking somewhere else.  
  
"You're no fun" she said, disappointed in his lack of interest.  
  
"My dearest Kate, do I or do I not know all that happens through the world? What use would it be to ask?" he asked, looking calmly through the forest, talking rarely, like in a dream state.  
  
"You're still no fun" she said. Why didn't he even look at her? "Always calm and collected."  
  
He smiled and suddenly, without so much as a warning, jumped with unnatural speed and grabbed her in his arms.  
  
"No fun, Kate? Calm and collected?" he asked and made his canines grow. She started laughing.  
  
"Ok, maybe I was wrong. Did I ever tell you what a good imitation of a vampire you are?"  
  
"Imitation?!" he asked, mock-hurt. "Why, please, I'm the real thing, the first of all vampires!"  
  
"And some day I might even believe you" she said, grinning.  
  
"Am I that bad at pretending?" Jack asked and she laughed.  
  
"Of course you are. What are you, anyway? I know for a fact that you're not human."  
  
"Ah, personal secret, I'm afraid" he answered and grinned.  
  
"Then, how old are you?"  
  
"Again, a personal secret"  
  
"How many people have you managed to trick into forgetting what they wanted to know with that annoyingly charming smile of yours you're wearing now?"  
  
"Many" he answered and laughed. "You're starting to know me too well. Listen, girl, do you like me?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I must say I do."  
  
"If I ask you to do something."  
  
"Uh oh" she said. "I smell trouble"  
  
"You know Galas, the Light Guardian"  
  
"Yes. I really hate the way this is going."  
  
"Tell him to lay off my tracks, I need some free hand in this."  
  
She just rolled her eyes.  
  
"Again, bugging you? Oh, people these days, so freakishly annoying."  
  
"I must say I agree" he answered. "Why don't people trust me?"  
  
"Maybe because. you're the Lord of Darkness?" she suggested.  
  
"Ah, that might be it."  
  
"So, how are you, besides saving the day and being bugged by Light Guardians and all?"  
  
"Fine, just fine, thanks" he answered, his eyes twinkling. "The elves love to have me with them and some people just accepted me as their leader. We shall win the war."  
  
She looked at him suspiciously.  
  
"That all? There seems to be more" she said. "I can tell by the look in your eyes."  
  
He grinned mischievously.  
  
"And my daughter is well and so are my two sons."  
  
"But you don't have. children." she said and a smile spread across her face. "So, who are your disciples?"  
  
He laughed merrily.  
  
"Michael Kane, Roxana Chase and Avalis"  
  
"Isn't Avalis one of the king's I-forgot-his-name-again knights?" she asked excitedly.  
  
"Yes, he is Galathorny's First Knight"  
  
"His name is Galathorny?" she asked and started laughing and even Jack allowed himself to chuckle.  
  
"Yes, that's why he insists everybody calls him Eagle"  
  
She tried to raise an eyebrow, but she couldn't do it right, since she was still laughing.  
  
"Eagle?"  
  
He laughed.  
  
"May I quote him?"  
  
"Be my guest"  
  
""  
  
"Shithead?!" she asked, roaring with laughter. "Remind me, please remind me to call him that when we meet."  
  
"No, can't do that. I wasn't even supposed to know about that."  
  
"Spying, were you?!" she insinuatingly asked.  
  
"Me? Spying?!" he asked, mock-hurt. "Oh, no, milady, I never spy. I have no need for it. As I said, I know everything."  
  
"How come your head hasn't exploded yet into about a thousand pieces because of the huge amount of information?" she asked in a rapid rhythm, but trying to look innocent.  
  
"Ok, so I don't know everything" he admitted" but I can know anything that I like. Like, your secret crush is."  
  
"NO!" she cried and then started coughing. "I mean, I don't have a secret crush"  
  
"Of course you don't" he said, making it clear he didn't believe her. "So, how is Mark?"  
  
"Damn" she said. "You can be annoying at times, did I tell you that?"  
  
"Why, yes you did" he answered cheerfully.  
  
She glared at him.  
  
"So, why did you call for me, o mighty Jack?"  
  
"Because I wanted to ask you to tell Galas about laying off my tracks."  
  
"Riiiiiiight. So, back to my question: why did you call me?"  
  
He shook his head, amused. The girl knew him too well. Well, he had been around her for quite a while and fate made sure they always bumped into each other. Ah, Kate was one great person. She had become one of Death's Guardians when she was young. Right now she was almost seventy. The good part about being the Guardian of either Death or Life was that you didn't die. Well, technically, when you were a Guardian of Death you were dead, but the good part was you could walk around in a body just like a living person, act like a living person and be a living person in every way, except you couldn't exactly die and didn't need to eat and, oh, yeah, you had to work almost all the time for Death.  
  
"I called you because I want you to get the Gate of the Veil to the Ministry of Magic."  
  
"Oh, ok- WHAT?! Are you out of your inhuman mind?!" she cried. "The Gate of the Veil is the only physical gate we have and you want me to give to a bunch of destroying idiots?!"  
  
"Yep" he answered. Did she really think it was the only physical gate?  
  
"Death will not agree. No, no she won't! And you are the one who tells her about this, Jack. Not me. I'm out of here and you, my friend, are crazy and completely out of your immortal minds!"  
  
She turned her back on him and started walking away when he appeared in front of her.  
  
"I'll talk to Death. You just move the Veil."  
  
She glared at him.  
  
"No"  
  
"Please, Kate" he said. Gah! What gorgeous eyes! Why did he have to look like that at her? She felt his being surround her, his request bugging her. She closed her eyes for a second and couldn't open them again. She felt his being, the way she had felt him so long ago. There was something about him, ancient and powerful and dangerous, but not evil. This power he passed to all those who needed it, she knew. It was impossible to describe, the way he felt like.  
  
"Ok" she said, defeated. "How do you do that?"  
  
"It's a secret of mine. Thank you"  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"I love you too"  
  
She left. Death was not going to agree. Nope, no, nix, niet, no, she would not agree. Moving the Veil. And the Guardian there would be pretty upset, too! She would be fuming! Badly!... Kate smiled. Well, for that, it was worth to try.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Author's Note: Here we are, another chapter! I love my life!!! Hope you like this one as well! -although it was a bit late-  
  
Thank you:  
  
the Red Dragons Order: Hmmm. If I dare think not to continue I get into trouble with you. Why do I get a feeling of déjà vu? By the way, Akvar and I should be finished with the next chapter soon -but as he said once, with humor, soon for him and he's 5000!-  
  
harryforeva: Thank you. 


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted. Alone, they can't survive. And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"Eagle! How are you!" Rowena cried, seeing her friend coming out of the forest. What was his name? She knew him for about a million years and still referred to him as Eagle or that king. What was his name? She remembered even from her childhood that that was the way he referred to himself. Eagle. A nickname, she knew, but what was his name again? It was starting to become an obsession.  
  
"Milady" he said with a small bow. "Fine, thank you. And you?"  
  
"Wonderful! How's your kingdom?"  
  
"It is all peaceful and well, milady"  
  
The king looked back at the forest he had come from and then forward to the castle of Hogwarts. What peaceful land was here, near the school! And it was a good thing he had run into Rowena. He wanted her wise advice.  
  
"But it will soon be not" he added.  
  
"Why?" Rowena Ravenclaw asked. "I thought all was going well"  
  
"Yes. It was and it still is. But there is a dark shadow my Seers see that is coming over me. Cassandra says it is a great shadow that shall change us all. And she has Seen one of our friends shall fall, but she can not tell how"  
  
Rowena looked at him thoughtful.  
  
"Are her predictions usually trustable?"  
  
"Oh, yes. Hardly have I ever heard her go wrong. She is quite accurate in her predictions and Sees all that there is to See"  
  
"So one of us shall fall" Rowena said with a sigh. "Does she know who?"  
  
"No. But she said that one shall fall, but not in death" Eagle said. "What do you make of it?"  
  
"Not much. But I have an awful hunch" she said, thinking.  
  
"Do tell"  
  
"Maybe one of us shall fall in darkness. But I can't guess who."  
  
Eagle looked at her and smiled sadly.  
  
"Perhaps me. Or the one I wish to make my lady, Roxana Chase."  
  
"No! She will not fall into darkness!" Rowena said with a small laugh. "And neither will you, Eagle. What if it were one of us, Founders?"  
  
"One of you?" the king asked. "Oh, no. Who would it be? You, never. You're too wise for that. Godric definitely will not. He's a warrior for light for sure. Salazar might seem a bit dark sometimes, but would never fall. But maybe. Helga"  
  
"Definitely not. Helga would never fall in darkness, you know her!"  
  
"I guess not" the king said. "How is your betrothed?"  
  
"Fine. He is here, in the castle, now. So, tell me, on a happier note, of Roxana"  
  
The king smiled as Rowena grabbed his arm and started dragging him to the castle. Well, why not tell her? She was his friend since they were children, was she not?  
  
"She's really beautiful and intelligent. One of the best witches I've met! And you should see. Such beautiful eyes. Such a sharp mind."  
  
Rowena smiled widely and the two friends walked to the great castle, hand in hand.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
The Four Founders were -as usual, when they weren't in class- in the kitchen. Washing dishes. And cooking. Did this cycle never stop?! Salazar was quite pissed off with the situation. This was not his idea of having a school! Of course, magic helped a lot, but still!  
  
"Hey, Salazar!" Godric cried. "Could you please give me a hand with these dishes?"  
  
"Yes, sure" he answered through his clenched teeth. "Scourgify!"  
  
Well, at least the spell always worked. The only down side to it was that you could not do too many with just one spell. And they also had to go through the school and clean the place up. Very, very annoying. At least the dishes were washed and the female Founders had cooked for dinner.  
  
"Let's start with the bathrooms, shall we?" Salazar suggested.  
  
"Fine" Godric replied. "Bye, Rowena! Bye, Helga!"  
  
The two women nodded and the two left.  
  
"Remind me -why did we make the school this large?" Godric asked.  
  
"Because we wanted to impress. And it's adventurous and all that."  
  
"Right" Godric said.  
  
Well, it wasn't Salazar's fault! Well, maybe it was. He had proposed to impress with the greatness of the castle. But the very bad downside was that once a month they had to go through the castle and clean the place up. The self-cleaning spells were great, but not as efficient as they should have been.  
  
"Steven!" Godric cried, taking his friend by surprise. "Make yourself useful and give us a help with cleaning this place up!"  
  
Salazar smirked as he saw Steven Ravenclaw's face. Rowena's husband had done a very unusual thing and changed his last name when he got married. Very unusual, but understandable. His name had been Steven Wokingham- Nottingham. Ah, the elder generations had had quite a lot of fun by choosing stupid names for their children. Like Nymphadora or Galathorny. At least his name was Salazar, but his parents had made sure they always called him Salzie. Salzie! Well, at least they were far away now.  
  
"Must I?" the man asked.  
  
"Yes" Salazar replied. "Come on, it'll be deadly boring!"  
  
"Wow, that's very. encouraging" Steven said. "Fine, I'll join"  
  
The three of them went through almost every room in the school and cleaned everything up. Students walked past them and bowed respectfully. Well, at least they were fine.  
  
It took them nearly the whole day -and it was Sunday, one of the best days of the week- to walk through the castle and clean the place up, although they had split up in the morning and all did their part of the place. Well, at night they were all dead on their feet, but hungry enough to go to the Great Hall and eat.  
  
"We must find someone to do this!" Godric said, putting some mashed potatoes in his plate. It's unbearable!"  
  
"Yes, it is" Steven agreed. "But where to find someone to work for us?"  
  
"I have a proposal" Eagle said. The king had remained there for a few days, watching the children. He wasn't too much of a wizard, but a great warrior. To Salazar it seemed that he didn't like to use magic, not that he couldn't do it.  
  
"Let's hear it" Salazar said.  
  
"Have you heard of house elves?" the king asked.  
  
"Of course" Godric replied. "But there are very few and I don't know if only four or five can take care of a whole castle."  
  
"They are few here" Eagle said. "But not in the Northern Lands! Maybe you could bring some. The ones there have very little clue of what to do with them, especially since slavery is so bad looked upon here."  
  
"Slavery?!" Rowena nearly cried. "I would never have slaves here!"  
  
"You could pay them" Eagle suggested. "That way they wouldn't be slaves. And they would simply love to get out of there. Their masters are treating them like scum, so they won't work well. Now, their masters want to sell them, but to whom can you sell slaves that don't obey and who try to run away or do bad things all the time?"  
  
"But would the elves agree?" Helga asked.  
  
"Yes. At least until they get here" the king said. "But they don't cost much and if they refuse to work. well, you could always let them go."  
  
"I guess it'll do" Salazar said.  
  
"So, let's check them out!" Godric said.  
  
Rowena agreed with a sigh. Maybe they could free the creatures.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
It was late at night and one shadow was walking through the forest near Hogwarts. Galathorny, the king was returning to his people. It had been a tiring day at the school and all he wanted was to get fast to his people. Ah, yes, there he'd be home. Not that he wasn't at home at Hogwarts, he was just 'homer' in his own bed in his own land.  
  
He passed like a shadow through the forest, not noticing another shadow, which looked at him curiously. The other shadow shrugged and went in the opposite direction. It wasn't its problem if another human was walking through that forest. Not that she was too human anymore. Or was she? Hmmm. Well, she was dead, wasn't she? Or was she alive? Did the fact that she was a Guardian of Death make her dead? Well, she couldn't die. And she usually was in death. So, she was dead. But she had a warm body. That meant she was alive. Oh, hell! It didn't really matter, now, did it? Maybe she was on the border between Death and Life. Because she didn't quite remember herself dying, but she couldn't die anymore.  
  
"Hello, Kate" she heard a voice.  
  
"Hey, Jack-o! Am I dead or alive?" she asked the powerful man in front of her. Not that he was a human being. But he was a man. Wasn't he? Today, it was definitely Confusing Day!!!  
  
He laughed merrily.  
  
"You're alive, but not in the normal way."  
  
"How am I alive?"  
  
"You're alive like all Guardians" he replied. "No Guardian of Death or Life can die without the permission of Death or Life. You're alive Kate. And the fact that you're a Guardian makes you immortal, too"  
  
"Thanks!" she replied. "Well, I talked to Galas. He said you're a complete evil bastard and that he must stop you."  
  
"I know. Thank you for standing up for me. I liked the part where you called him 'a completely idiotic and megalomaniac pig!'. Nice touch"  
  
Kate just let her mouth drop.  
  
"You were there?"  
  
"As I said once, I know everything. Including this."  
  
She smiled.  
  
"Well, then, you know then that Death agreed and that I took the gate to the Ministry of Magic, or the Magic Council as they call themselves"  
  
Jack smiled and remembered the scene. Kate had that wonderful charm.  
  
/*-/*-/*-  
  
It was night and the people working in the Council were starting to pack their things to go home when a woman came in.  
  
"Is this the English Magic Council?" she asked.  
  
"Yes" one of them answered. "Well, listen here, lady, we were about to close for the night and."  
  
"Listen here, human! I come from Death herself" she said.  
  
"What do you mean?" the Councilor of Magic asked, confused.  
  
"I mean I come from Death herself. Must I spell it out for you? I C-O-M-E F- R-O-M D-E-A-T-H."  
  
"I understand" the Councilor said.  
  
"Good. I was thinking of simpler ways of putting it, but found none"  
  
"You mean Death is alive?" one of the people there asked.  
  
"Yes, of course!" she replied. "Death is alive and has sent something to you."  
  
"What?" one of them asked.  
  
"Her Veil!" the woman said, obviously expecting some reaction. But she got none.  
  
"What?" the Councilor asked, after a minute and the woman sighed.  
  
"Her Veil. You know, you pass through it and get directly into death, no pain ad all and you can hear voices of the dead through it. You know, that Veil."  
  
"Where is it?" one of the people asked.  
  
The women smiled and opened the door through which she had come.  
  
"Mobiliarbus" she muttered, waving a wand and a majestic archway came through the opened door, a Veil slowly moving on it.  
  
It was a very odd sight: an obviously ancient object was coming through the door, in a rather modern office. And it was supposed to be the gate to death. Definitely strange. Would the king of England believe if they told him this? So, all they could do was gap.  
  
"Don't go through it unless you really want to die" the woman advised with a smirk. "I don't Guard the Veil and my fellow Guardian has a knack for not letting people out."  
  
"You're a Guardian of Death?" the Councilor asked.  
  
"Yep"  
  
"What's a Guardian of Death?" one of the others asked and the woman sighed desperately.  
  
"A Guardian is a Servant of an Element or Death or Life or things like these. But the Guardians have great powers, especially when they do something in the name of their Master. Then, they are the Element or whatever you want to call it. For example, if Death told me to fight, I would be Death and it would be sufficient for me to want somebody dead that they'd die. Well, if Death wanted them dead, too. But that never happens, so stop paling. I usually sit at a Gate to Death and wait for souls to come and say the welcomes and all that and tell tem where they should go, or I scout around the world and do things Death wants me to do. Like carry this Veil here or things like that. You could say I'm almost like a priestess. Well, the guardians of the Elements have way nicer ways of manifestation than I do. Like the Guardian of Fire who can turn himself into flames. But I guess Death will do for me."  
  
The people in the room were staring at the woman who was enjoying herself babbling.  
  
"Well, I should go" she said. "See ya! Well, hopefully not soon"  
  
With a small wave, she stepped through the veil, leaving the people behind her gap.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"Thank you for that" Jack said with a smile.  
  
"Welcomed, although I have no idea why you want it there" Kate replied.  
  
"Later, you shall see"  
  
"Please, please tell me now!" she pleaded.  
  
"No" he said. "You know, you remind me of someone."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Cassandra, when she was young. Just as hyper as you are"  
  
Kate glared at him.  
  
"You're comparing me to Cassie? The Seer?"  
  
"Yes" he replied. "She is from your family"  
  
"No!" Kate said, looking upset. "But I can't believe you're comparing me to miss know-it-all!"  
  
Jack laughed.  
  
"No, Cassandra! Cassie Trelawney! You're thinking about Cassiopeia."  
  
"Oh!" Kate said, a smile on her lips. "Blasted Seers, all called Cassandra or Cassiopeia or Sybil or things like that. Yeah, Trelawney's so nice! We have so much in common!"  
  
"What did I just say?" Jack said.  
  
"I don't remember. what did you say?"  
  
"That she used to be exactly like you when she was young."  
  
"Ah, that. Well, she's family. My cousin" Kate said with a smile and Jack chuckled.  
  
"That's exactly what I said" he commented. "Well, I should go. Got to take care of some problems with my school."  
  
"Oh, ok. YOU HAVE A SCHOOL?!" Kate cried.  
  
"Shush! Yes, I do, Kate, but I don't feel the whole Forest should know."  
  
"What school, Jacky?"  
  
"Jacky?!" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow and she shrugged. "I'll pretend I haven't heard that. Hogwarts, that's the school"  
  
"This school we're next to?!" Kate nearly cried.  
  
"That's the one"  
  
"But it belongs to Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin."  
  
"I know their names, Kate" Jack said. "I convinced them to make me second over the school."  
  
"But that's' wonderful!" Kate said. "What problems are you talking about?"  
  
"A minor there-is-nobody-to-keep-the-castle-clean-and-to-cook problem" Jack replied. "And I believe that Galathorny-" Kate chuckled "-came with one great proposal: house elves"  
  
"House elves? But those are slaves by definition, Jack! You can't put slavery in Hogwarts!"  
  
"Trust me, they won't be slaves" Jack said. "I have to put my founders in touch with some of the dealers with house elves and everything will be alright."  
  
"If you say so, Jackushka!" Kate said, looking at him disbelievingly.  
  
"Kate, for the love of God, stop changing my name!" Jack said. "What else will you turn it into?"  
  
"Jack-o, Jacky, Jackushka, Jacks, J.J., Jess -from combining the first letters of your name-, J., S.J. -I believe it sound great!-, Stroisy,."  
  
"Ok, I get the point" Jack said. "But please, stop!"  
  
"Fine" she said with a sigh. "If you say so"  
  
"See you later, Katie"  
  
"Katie?!" she said, enraged.  
  
"Giving you a taste of your own medicine, nothing more" the man said and kissed her on her cheeks. "Bye, Kate"  
  
"Bye" she mumbled and watched him go.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Salazar was wondering whether this had been a good idea. The four of them were talking to a man who supposedly had many house elves or could get them. With the meeting at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, it all felt like something illegal, in fact. Good point! Was it illegal? He had no idea, but he hoped not. That would not end up good.  
  
"So, you want to buy one hundred house elves?" the man asked the Founders.  
  
"Correct" Rowena answered.  
  
"May I ask for what?"  
  
"Housework" she answered.  
  
"Ah, yes. Beat them up good and they will do whatever you like. Not too efficient, but it will do. It's worth even the small riots. But if you control them right, they will do all that you ask."  
  
Salazar did not like this. Slavery was not one of the things he accepted. But maybe they could free the elves and get them to work for themselves. However, he did not like the man. He seemed to be a smuggler. No, he really didn't like him. But it was the only way they could get the elves.  
  
"How did you manage to enslave them?" Salazar asked.  
  
"Ah, it was difficult business" the man answered, sending a very unpleasant smile towards Salazar. "There were a few in the wild, building their own homes -small things, nothing great- and we stumbled across some of their houses and captured them. Then, we realized they spoke our language and we started to train them to do housework. Very reluctant little fellows. We started calling them 'house elves', too."  
  
"What did you call them before?" Godric asked.  
  
"Forest elves. But that doesn't really matter, now does it? So, we trained them to be house elves, but we still have a few minor problems. I'm sure, however, that you'll manage"  
  
"Yes, we will" Rowena said. "So, when will you be giving them to us?"  
  
"Hmmm. One hundred is not a small number. Maybe. a month?"  
  
"Fine" Helga said. "And cost?"  
  
"50 galleons per house elf"  
  
"50?!" Godric said. "No, that's too much! How about 10"  
  
"10 galleons?!" the man said with a laugh. "You have no idea how useful they can be! 45!"  
  
"You have got to be joking" Salazar said. "15 the most"  
  
"No, 40 the least"  
  
"I'm not buying 100 elves for 40 galleons each!" Rowena said. "I'll give you 20 galleons."  
  
"30 and you take them. I'll go no less"  
  
"Deal" they answered and the man grinned.  
  
"See you in one month, oh, great ones" he said with a bow and left, leaving the Founders behind.  
  
"I do not like him" Godric said. "He has too much of an air of treachery."  
  
"I agree, but all those from North have such an air." Helga said.  
  
"So, do you think we can handle the elves?" Salazar asked. "If they cause a riot."  
  
"We'll make sure they don't have to" Rowena answered. "If we let them free, they'll cause no riot"  
  
"Let's go back to the castle" Godric proposed.  
  
"Sure" the others answered.  
  
"Oh, and does any one of you know Eagle's name? I can't remember it!" Rowena said.  
  
"I have no clue" Helga said. "But what?! You don't know either?"  
  
"No, I always called him Eagle, even when we were kids"  
  
"Weird" Godric said. "Maybe he has a really stupid name. Like Nymphadora or."  
  
"Yes, his name is definitely Nymphadora, Godric" Salazar said. "He must have a woman's name!"  
  
"Oh, right!" the other said. "Maybe Nymphadorus?"  
  
"Nymphadorus?" Rowena asked and burst into laughter. "I don't think so, Godric"  
  
"Ok, maybe not" he admitted. "But how about Nikita?"  
  
"Nikita's."  
  
"Yeah, I know, a woman's name. But there are some man called that!"  
  
"Oh, come on, Nikita, let's go cook!" Rowena said with a laugh.  
  
"What- again?!" the man asked outraged. "Those house elves better come soon and agree to help!"  
  
The others laughed, seeing the completely furious Godric. Life was beautiful!  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Author's Note: My own little version of how the house elves came to be. Oh, well, I'll update sometime soon. I feel very inspired. Ah, next time you shall see the house elves themselves!!! So review!  
  
Thanks to: siriusforeva: Yep. That's the one! 


	4. Chapter 4

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted... Alone, they can't survive... And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Godric woke up that morning. That was a surprise in itself, too, since he had been dead tired last night, after cleaning up the castle with Steven and Salazar. One month had passed and there still were no house elves. Damn.  
  
He got up, got dressed and went down to the Great Hall to eat. Surprisingly, there was no one around. When he entered the Great Hall, it was also empty. Where was everybody?  
  
In a very inspired moment, he got out of the castle and saw a wonderful sight. About 100 meters away from the castle, the students were gathered in one group, one adult with them, all looking at a bunch of wizards who were standing around a huge group of creatures. And in front of the group, four people were talking. His fellow founders and the house elf dealer.  
  
He hurried to the four people.  
  
"Well, thank you and have a good day! Goodbye!" the man said, a grin on his face. He turned to the group of creatures –house elves, as Godric could see- and made a sign to the wizards. All of them left in the same time towards the Forbidden Forest, leaving the house elves unheard.  
  
"Hello" Rowena said towards the elves. "Um... Do you speak English?"  
  
"Yes, us speak English" one of them said, coming out of the group. "And me is the leader"  
  
"Well, um, then you know that we..."  
  
"Bought us" the elf said. "We is not stupid, witchy"  
  
Godric saw Salazar stifle a chuckle.  
  
"And we is deserving to be free, just like wizard!"  
  
"Yes, of course!" Rowena said with a huge smile. "But perhaps you would like jobs? We have some and we are willing to pay you"  
  
"We does not want to be slaves, witchy" the elf said. "We been slaves too much. Bad men had whips. Us does not like whips."  
  
"Neither do we" the witch said. "But we promise, no whips and payment"  
  
"No. We is going to the wild, to homes."  
  
"This castle can be your home" Rowena said.  
  
"No. We does not want to work, witchy. We is now going away. Come!" the elf said to the others.  
  
"But I promise, we just need some help! We'll treat you like humans..."  
  
The elf did not listen and left towards the Forest, along with about 20 of his people. But when he made it to the edge of the Forest, he looked back and saw the 80 who had stayed there.  
  
"What is you waiting for?" he asked.  
  
"We... we is thinking maybe work with wizards" an elf said.  
  
"No, Dobby! Come!"  
  
"I is not coming. I wants to work with wizards. They look like good people."  
  
"Come Dobby" the other elf said, getting upset.  
  
"No!" Dobby said. "Monny, here we is having work... Wizard look good to us"  
  
"Dobby! Thou is not staying with wizards! Wizards bad, Dobby! Come with your master"  
  
"You talk like bad men. Witchy nice. We is staying."  
  
"Stupid Dobby. We leave now. Do not come after us"  
  
"I will not!" the elf replied proudly. "We is wanting to work" he said towards Rowena who smiled.  
  
"Wonderful!" she said. "What would you like in return?"  
  
The elves looked at each other and started talking to each other. Finally, they seemed to reach an agreement.  
  
"We wants to stay in castle and get good food..."  
  
"Of course, that we would have given anyway..." Rowena said.  
  
"And we is wanting to be treated well"  
  
"Never considered anything else" the witch replied.  
  
"And we is wanting to be able to come and going whenever we want. But we promise to come back always."  
  
"Perfect!" she said.  
  
"That all" Dobby said.  
  
"Are you sure?" Salazar asked. "Wouldn't you like galleons?"  
  
"Oh, no, wizard, we have nothing to do with money... We is just wanting to be free and not to be caring of money or food"  
  
The Founders looked at each other happily and then led everybody into the castle.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"Hello, Master" said a woman.  
  
"Roxana" answered Jack with a smile. "You, my child, are late"  
  
"Yes, well, you know..."  
  
He laughed.  
  
"Yes, Roxana, I know. You are late because you met Eagle and there's nothing more that needs to be said."  
  
"Heh... yeah" she replied. "So, what's going on?"  
  
"Besides a starting war and a weird prophecy, nothing much" he replied. "I need you to find the White Stag"  
  
"The White Stag?!" she nearly cried. "But my great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother chased the beast, it's probably dead by now"  
  
"No, it wasn't her who chased it. Add four more 'greats' and you get the person" Jack replied to the beautiful woman. She had a kind face, with brown hair and brown eyes, but a warrior-type look to counter that kindness. Yes, that was the characteristic of all Chase women. Both kind and warrior.  
  
"Just the point" Roxana said. "It must be dead by now"  
  
"It is"  
  
"Then?! Jack, you either hit yourself in the head, or gone completely crazy. How can I find after a dead thing?"  
  
"Because even though that White Stag is dead, its great, great, great.... Oh, well, you get the point. Its heir is alive."  
  
"So, what good would a weird White Stag be to us?"  
  
"The White Stag has a great power and great will to help. We can ask it a few favors which it might grant us."  
  
"Really?" Roxana asked. "That sounds interesting."  
  
"Yes. Did you know Godric Gryffindor himself wanted to become a Stag Animagus to resemble the White Stag?"  
  
"Had no clue" she replied.  
  
"But it didn't work out, since he was rather the 'predator' type... Instead, he chose the griffin to be his shape."  
  
"He's an Animagus?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I had no clue."  
  
"Well, he isn't. He gave up, needing to invest a great power into Hogwarts. But he will become one."  
  
"Really?" she asked. "How do you know?"  
  
"He's starting to have more free time. Or he will start to. It's just a matter of time to restart his training."  
  
"Aha. So, I'm going to find the White stag."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Great. So, I'll be chasing the White Stag, just like my great, great, great..."  
  
"Yes. Don't say all the greats, please or we'll be stuck here until your great grandchildren will get married"  
  
"Ah, yes, true" she replied. "So, where do I start looking for the beast? I can't just wonder around in a forest crying its name out."  
  
"It's somewhere in the forests of Europe and thrice a year it goes on the Black Forest mountain and drinks water from the spring of the Danube itself."  
  
"Cool. So, all I have to do is go there and wait."  
  
"Yes. And when it gets there, catch it. But be warned, it runs with the speed of light and you must catch it, but not harm it for it to grant you wishes."  
  
"My mom chased after a phoenix and I'm starting to wish I was her" Roxana said with a sigh.  
  
"Ah, but your prize is sweeter" he answered. "And for this, I will give you some powers that you might need... But they shan't last long, since you shan't need them again."  
  
"Hey, that's great!" Roxana said cheerfully. "I always love to use your power, it makes me feel wonderful."  
  
Jack smiled.  
  
"Now go, my child. The Stag will be there soon and when you shall catch it, try to make friends with it."  
  
"Alright" Roxana said. "But can I go say goodbye to Eagle? I don't think I'll be seeing him too soon."  
  
"Of course... And good luck on thou journey"  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"The best food I've eaten so far in this castle" Godric said, enjoying his food. "Those house elves surely know how to cook!"  
  
"Yes, they do" Rowena answered. "I'm so glad we have some time off, I was getting tired."  
  
"I don't know about you" Salazar said" but I'm going to become an Animagus now. I think we might need it"  
  
"I agree" Godric said. "I still haven't managed to take my transformation where I wanted it. I look like an overgrown kitten with skin instead of fur!"  
  
"Eew" Helga said. "Godric, I was eating!"  
  
"I'll try to become one, too. How about a raven? How would that do to me?" she asked.  
  
"It's great and it would go with thou name" Salazar said. "I'd like a snake. I think you know why"  
  
"Of course" Helga answered. "I'd like to be a badger"  
  
"What?! And let Godric get the most powerful animal?" Rowena protested.  
  
"Don't worry. Griffins are great, but basilisks are sometimes better" Salazar said.  
  
"Basilisk?!" Godric said, his mouth dropping. "You want to be a basilisk?"  
  
"Yes. It's the king of snakes and nothing else will do" the other replied.  
  
"But reptiles are very difficult!" Rowena said.  
  
"I shall manage" he answered.  
  
They all looked over the Hall. He students were happily eating and the Gryffindors and Slytherins, taking example of their Heads, were eating together at one table, as were the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. So, only two tables were taken.  
  
"I love this school" Helga said with a small sigh.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"Eagle!"  
  
"Yes?" the king asked.  
  
"Cassandra Trelawney is calling after you. Says it is urgent"  
  
The king quickly got out of his tent he was currently living in and hurried to see his best Seer. Cassie... He ran to her tent and got inside, seeing her on her bed, crying.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.  
  
"I Saw... I Saw one fall into darkness again... And saw the darkness stretching into his blood... Poisoning him and making him evil... And then I saw him run away... But the evil will live and one day a child will be born and remember the past and See the darkness and gather it around him. That child will grow and die and will be reborn and will lose himself. And at last he will be destroyed... All the evil shall be destroyed in him."  
  
"Cassandra" he said, reaching towards her. "Don't cry. When shall all this happen?"  
  
"I do not know. But the war... It is only a mask. Watch for the one who will fall. Watch for him, Galathorn..."  
  
"I will" he answered.  
  
"And we shall disappear, until the time will come for us to rise... Falling stars in the night between times, we shall arise only when the time is right"  
  
The king watched his Seer shake.  
  
"We shall arise and blood of my blood shall See what will to come, but none shall believe... Because she shall be weak and she will be only sometimes Seer... And blood of my blood shall be the one who shall truly See and shall truly help... But she shall be young and guided by her Master. And she shall know, though she shall not"  
  
"Cassie, I don't understand" Eagle said.  
  
"You do not, but others will" Cassandra replied. "But as for now, take no threat in the war, for it is only a mask. One shall truly fall, but others shall be safe. For it is, as Rowena has understood, a Ghost War. It will be fought, but it shall not be serious. Not now... But what happens now will happen for the future."  
  
"So, it is a war of the future" the king said.  
  
"Yes... when we shall be a memory" she said.  
  
Eagle looked at the frightened Seer. But now she seemed to recover from her visions and to pull herself together.  
  
"I'll be going to my husband now" she said softly. "I need a bit of support"  
  
Eagle nodded and stepped out of her way as she went out the tent, recovering by second. The things she said, they were a riddle. And a difficult one, too. He got out of the tent and started pacing. In all his years as a king, he had thought that the war was about to start and yet it never did. His people were waiting too. They were wizards, squibs and a few well-trusted Muggles as well as wizards who did not like to use magic.  
  
They were great warriors, all of them, although few in number. 623 in total, out of which 63 children and 113 women. They weren't exactly what you would call a 'kingdom', but they were a handful of fearless men who traveled from one place to another, doing whatever they could from hunting to pottery, trading and, of course, fighting. Right now, they were in Scotland, in their temporary houses, the tents. But Eagle knew they were just as valuable as a whole kingdom like France, when it came to fighting. For one, most of them could do magic. For two, nobody could exactly conquer them, since to do that, they'd have to kill or enslave all of them, which was terribly hard to do since they were quick and could easily hide in forests or mountains. Yep, they were a definitely dangerous handful of people. Even the kids could wreak havoc if let to do so. So, they could deal with a war... But what did Cassie just predict?  
  
He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw somebody rushing down to him.  
  
"Roxana!" he said.  
  
"Hey, Eagle" she said. "I wanted to tell you something"  
  
"Go right ahead"  
  
"Jack Strois has sent me to get the White Stag and it's supposed to be in Germany"  
  
"Whoa!" he said. "You're going to Germany?"  
  
"Yes. I have to" she said. "No, wait. I want to. I want to listen to what he said"  
  
"But that means I won't see you for a long while" he complained softly.  
  
"I know, but you'll manage" she said with a smile. "It's not like I wouldn't be able to Apparate when I'm finished. Oh, but there would be one problem."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Where would I come back? I hardly managed to find you last time."  
  
"Ask for me at Hogwarts" he said.  
  
"Alright" she said, taking his hand. "I will miss you"  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Author's Note: there goes another chapter. Pretty hard to write, since we have the computer in the living room and my mom was watching TV, but still. It almost came up like a soap opera.  
  
Thanks to: The Red Dragons Order: Well, it seems that you're the only one reviewing. No prob, though. I can't stay discouraged. So, I hope this chap answers the question 'Eagle is king of what?' 


	5. Chapter 5

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted... Alone, they can't survive... And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"By the... kingdom of Fal'sils  
  
We shall ride the lonely quills  
  
Laugh and fight until the night  
  
When we scatter from the fright!"  
  
"Um... Alexander, are you ok?" Rowena asked.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yes, yes, of course!" he answered and washed his hands. "I just love that song, don't you?"  
  
"It's absolutely silly" she replied.  
  
"Why, of course! That's just the point!" he replied. "Have you seen Helga, by the way?"  
  
"I'll go search for her" Rowena said and walked out of the room. Trust Helga to get a husband who loved silly songs and jokes. She sighed as she heard the next few words in the song –And at dawn we meet again/To get drunk again, right then!- She had absolutely no idea how somebody had managed to get the brave and powerful kingdom of Fal'sil in this, or how they had managed to 'ride on a quill' but she definitely did not want to know. And Eagle would raise an eyebrow hearing the part about getting drunk, but then again, why did she worry?  
  
"Helga!" she said to the kind woman in the staff room.  
  
"Yes?" she asked.  
  
"Your husband searches for you"  
  
"Really?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. Now go there and get him to stop singing!" Rowena said and Salazar and Godric started laughing their hearts out. The man had a knack for singing Rowena to madness.  
  
"Let me guess!" Salazar said. "He's singing about the midnight elven parties!"  
  
"Or the 'come to me, milady' song!" Godric said.  
  
"No, he's singing the Fal'sil song. Eagle would hit him badly, he is the king of the Fal'sil. "  
  
"Yes, he is" Salazar said. "Thank God he isn't here, then"  
  
"Got that right" Rowena said and sat down. "How she ended up with him is a mystery to me"  
  
"And to all human kind, trust us on that" Godric said. "So, what's going on in the Forest, do you know?"  
  
"Have no clue" she replied. "But there is something weird, that's for sure. I fear the War shall come soon..."  
  
The others looked at her half-saddened. She was right. The War would come soon, it was knocking at their doors. But the problem was how soon. It could be soon for them or soon for the human kind... But in a few years it was bound to come with all its might.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
{In the Black Forest mountains, sometime before midnight}  
  
"Here, Stagy, Stagy, Stagy!" Roxana muttered to herself. The White Stag had bowed down to drink some water. It was absolutely beautiful, mesmerizing even, but she couldn't be distracted by that, now could she?  
  
She went to it through the shadows, under the moonlight. She was sooo close, maybe two or three meters. And then it lifted its head and looked straight at her.  
  
/-Human, what do you seek?-/ it asked gently.  
  
"You can talk?!" Roxana asked, shocked.  
  
/-Us White Stags talk to all creatures, be them worms or humans, if we desire. But what do you seek?-/  
  
"Um... You?" she said.  
  
/-Why do you seek me, then?-/  
  
"We need some help in the coming war, sire"  
  
The Stag looked at her gently.  
  
/-The war is a war of humans. How can a king of beasts help you?-/  
  
"Jack said you could help us" she said a bit unsure.  
  
/-Jack? Who is Jack?-/  
  
"My Master. Jack Strois, the Lord of Darkness"  
  
/-The Lord of Darkness?! You serve the Lord of Darkness?!-/  
  
"Yes, sir, that is whom I serve, but he is not evil, he is..."  
  
/-I know, young one. I am good friend with the Lord. But if he seeks my help, why does he send his children? Why does he not come himself?-  
  
"I... I don't know. It might be that this isn't his war."  
  
/-Oh, but it is. It is his war.-/  
  
"It is more like our war, sire"  
  
/-Your war? But since when to the wizards battle against the Cloud of the Dark?"  
  
"Battle against what?!" she asked, confused.  
  
/-This is not known by you? This is not a war of humans... It is a war of darkness against humans!-/  
  
"Wow, it's bad" she said.  
  
/-It is. But what do you seek me for?-/  
  
"Help?" she asked.  
  
/-For help... Catch me-/  
  
With a small bow of head, it turned back quicker than she thought possible and started running.  
  
"Oh, well, here I go" she said and started running behind it. Jack's power helped, but she was only the same speed with the Stag. Curse the man for not giving her a bit of advantage at least.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
"My lord! Milord!"  
  
Eagle raised his head and looked at the frightened Fal'sil that ran to him.  
  
"What is it?" he asked quickly.  
  
"Milord... It is coming"  
  
Eagle raised his head and looked towards the forest. His eyes widened in fear as he saw a black cloud come quickly to them.  
  
"Everybody! Fast! On horses, RUN!" he cried and everybody came out of their tents to see what was happening. Horses started raising on two feet. "No time to lose! Leave everything behind! To Stonehenge!"  
  
Men, children and women jumped on horses as quickly as possible, taking only weapons with them and leaving everything else lying on the ground.  
  
/*-/*-/*-/*-  
  
Author's Note: Sorry to be short, but hey! It wouldn't come out longer. Review and tell me what you think!  
  
Thanks to:  
  
The Red Dragons Order: No, not quite like Robin Hood and his merry men. They don't steal from the rich and give to the poor, they're rather like nomads, traveling from one place to another. And 'Dobby' is a name that first came to my mind and I think I'll make it the 'name of honor' in house elf families. But even though I might have an obsession with immortality, he is not the same Dobby. 


	6. Chapter 6

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted... Alone, they can't survive... And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Roxana was happily going down to the place where the Fal'sils had set their camp before. She hadn't been gone for a long while –quite short, to tell the truth- and hoped to find the others there. If not, then they would be contacted through Hogwarts.  
  
But the sight in front of her eyes made her stop in shock. Instead of either seeing a lot of tents and people walking around or a place with signs of the camping, she saw... she saw tents and a lot of things lying down, forgotten. Nobody was there to ask what had happened. Nobody had bothered to pick up any object.  
  
"Oh, my..." she said slowly. She could see no dead bodies, she could hear no sound... no sound of birds or animals, either. Just a silence she did not like. Fear hit her in her heart as she made a few steps through the tents. Emptiness, it was as if something had come and deleted all the life... except the life of the plants. No bugs were buzzing, no birds were singing. Just dead silence...  
  
Fear spread in all her body, turning into terror. Her face paled, her body started shacking and she let out a scream and ran away... far, far away from that place of doom.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Rowena was having a very, very good time. A few nice moments with her husband, alone, in a room that had a bed in it... It was about time, too! Somebody always made sure that this wouldn't happen. They collapsed on the bed, kissing passionately when the most damned, annoying little thing happened.  
  
"Steve, I need... oh, my"  
  
Helga. Ah, trust Helga to always pop in at the very, very wrong moment as she just did.  
  
"I didn't realize, oh, my, sorry, I'm gone now!"  
  
The woman nearly ran out of the room, leaving the two to chuckle.  
  
"Wonder what she needed" Steve muttered amusedly.  
  
"I don't think it was important" Rowena replied.  
  
But at that moment, the door opened again, showing a very concerned Salazar Slytherin.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt you two" he said naturally. "We have some problems with the Fal'sil."  
  
"They can take care of themselves, it's not like they could disappear or anything" Rowena said, wondering how she could throw the man out.  
  
"Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened" Salazar said sternly.  
  
The two lost all their appetite and sat down properly to listen to the third.  
  
"What happened?" Rowena quietly asked.  
  
"Roxana Chase came here a few minutes ago, saying she had went to their camp and they were gone"  
  
"That's not so bad, they move from one place to another often, maybe they did that now. I'm surprised Roxana didn't think of it" Steven said.  
  
"She knew they could have left, but apparently they didn't take anything with them. The tents are still there, so are most objects... And another thing, something truly weird: no live creature was there, be it human or anything else. Not even an insect, out of what she said. She is afraid and sincerely, so am I"  
  
The two Ravenclaws looked at each other and frowned, then turning their gaze upon Salazar.  
  
"Maybe we should contact Jack?" Rowena proposed. "He helped us before and he seems to pop in at the right moments, maybe now he has some advice. This might concern Hogwarts, and it is also his school, remember?"  
  
"I thought of the same thing. There's just one problem and you've mentioned it" Salazar said. "He always popped in at the right moments. He just isn't here now and we never contacted him. Maybe he has something to do with this mysterious disappearing?"  
  
"I don't think so" Rowena replied. "Take me to Roxana"  
  
Salazar nodded and lead her to Godric's quarters. There, on a chair, pale and with red eyes, stood Roxana Chase... the queen of the Fal'sil.  
  
"Rowena" she muttered. "Eagle always trusted you and told you a lot... did he tell you anything this time?"  
  
"No" she truthfully replied. "But don't worry. Maybe they just switched the camping place for a while?"  
  
"He said before I left that f I wanted to find him to ask at Hogwarts... and plus the animals were gone too. Not a bird, not a bug. I'm afraid" she replied, seeming ready to start sobbing. "There was something great and evil there and if they weren't killed by it, then they ran away from it and so did the bugs. I just don't know where. Help me!"  
  
"Well, if they were dead, there would be bodies" Rowena said slowly. "So they just ran away... for a while. They will be coming here soon, for shelter if not for anything else and then you two can meet again."  
  
"Thanks for the encouragement" she said sadly. "Maybe you are right. But there was something so... so evil there! You should never feel it, it felt as if it was the devil himself"  
  
The Founders –Godric and Helga were there, too- exchanged a few looks.  
  
"I wonder where Jack is" Salazar said. 'I do not know why, but I think about him a lot these days."  
  
"Jack Strois?" Roxana asked slowly.  
  
"Yes. You know him?" Helga asked.  
  
"Of course I know him!" Rowena said. "He's my Master. He sent me chasing after the White Stag in the first place! But how do you know him?"  
  
"Saved our lives and made us give him Hogwarts in return... it is therefore his school"  
  
"Whoa" Roxana said gaping a little. "Never told me that"  
  
"I have a feeling" Salazar said "that our dearest Lord of Darkness is hiding a lot more than we imagine"  
  
"I don't have a feeling, I know it" Roxana said. He's shown me a lot of times proof that he is much more powerful than I believed him to be and he seems to know nearly everybody."  
  
"Omniscient, huh?" Salazar asked. "Wonderful. And he won't show up because...?"  
  
"I'm his disciple, not his caretaker!" Roxana complained and to her surprise, Salazar nodded.  
  
"I understand. After all, if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't tell everybody where I am all the time! Imagine all the surprise attacks!"  
  
Roxana gave a small snort that sounded rather like a blow of her nose.  
  
"But he would be useful. What good to have a school owner if he can't even appear at key moments?" Salazar continued.  
  
"It's not a key moment!" Helga said, surprised.  
  
"What if it is? If we perish now, the school dies with us, end of story" Salazar said.  
  
"Why on earth would we perish?" Godric asked.  
  
"Maybe the thing that took care of the Fal'sil is coming here now!" Slytherin said, letting a soft 'sss' escape his lips at the end of the sentence. Quite a surprise, too, since the sentence didn't end in 's'. It sounded a bit like Parseltongue.  
  
"Are you trying to scare me?" Roxana asked.  
  
"Actually, he's trying to determine me to come" a voice said from the door. "Here I am, no need to hiss at my not being here"  
  
Jack Strois looked at them, blue eyes shining at them.  
  
"Finally" Salazar said. "These idiots won't understand. Rowena, you disappoint me!"  
  
"What he means is" Jack said "that he was saying all that hoping I'd hear it and do something about it. But I came here anyway. Nice try, anyway. Roxana, child, do not worry. The reason why everything alive was not there was indeed the evilness you felt, but the live begins fled, they didn't die. They just didn't have time to warn you or gather their camp. Do not worry, they are all safe"  
  
Roxana let out a small 'whew'.  
  
"But unfortunately, it was only the beginning. The evil you felt was the trace of the Cloud of the Dark that went through there. Nothing died, they all fled, that why it all was so quiet and evil"  
  
"The Stag mentioned the Cloud of the Dark, too!" Roxana said. "What is it?"  
  
"It cannot be described in human speech" Jack replied. "It is evil traveling, instead of in a body, in a cloud that spreads on great distances. It chases away all those who are not powerful to stand in front of it. Those who cannot get out of the way are turned by it into dark creatures and they walk with the Cloud. But if they manage to escape it, then they can get back to where they were before. Unfortunately, the Cloud can control its servants from away, it is like the Imperius curse"  
  
Roxana shivered.  
  
"None of them were hit by it, were they?" she asked afraid.  
  
"No, child. They all ran away. Some of the animals were trapped, but no humans"  
  
Roxana let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"But where are they?" she asked.  
  
"In a safe place. They are feeling the loss of their objects right about now, but they manage."  
  
Roxana nodded.  
  
"Can I go see them?"  
  
"Of course, daughter" Jack said softly and she got up.  
  
"Do you even know where you're going?" Salazar asked. "I thought you had a problem with that five minutes ago!"  
  
"She doesn't need to know" Jack laughed. "I will take her there. I put the wards on Hogwarts and therefore I can bend them. I'll take her there in one second"  
  
Roxana smiled as he took her hand and, after only a second, she disappeared under the amazed eyes of the four founders.  
  
"Simply spiffing" Salazar said, his eyes huge and mouth slightly gaping.  
  
"Why, thank you" Jack carelessly said. "So, it's bad. The Cloud of the Dark is coming and is searching..."  
  
The founders stared at him, waiting for him to finish the sentence, thing which he never did.  
  
"What's it searching for?" Salazar asked.  
  
"Never mind" Jack replied, his eyes concerned. "I must go now"  
  
Before the four could complain, he disappeared, not unlike Roxana.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
"Roxana!" Eagle said, smiling happily. "How was your mission?"  
  
"Great" she replied, tears in her eyes. "But when I went back to... to the place where you camp had been... I saw... It was like a grave..."  
  
Eagle nodded and took her to a tree trunk he used as a bench.  
  
"We saw it coming. It was like a cloud, a black cloud which meant no good" he said slowly. "It was evil and we ran as fast as we could until we made it here. It was a Stag that lead us here"  
  
"A Stag?!" she asked, surprised. "Was it white?"  
  
"Yes. It shone like a star in the darkness that seemed to surround us... It took us here" Eagle said and frowned after a second. "Wait... weren't you chasing a white stag?"  
  
"Yes! Yes, I was!" she replied, her eyes widening. "It said... before I started chasing it... 'for help, catch me'. Maybe it is true, then. The Stag can be in two places at once!"  
  
Roxana stared wide-eyed in the eyes of her husband, her mouth slightly opened.  
  
"Did you catch it?" Eagle asked softly.  
  
"Yes. I did. And it told me I had already helped myself by chasing it and I had no idea what it meant... and then it swore to protect me at the right time!" Roxana said, her voice shaking a little. "What's going on? Please tell me you know..."  
  
"I'm sorry..." Eagle replied and held her. "So sorry... I do not know. I do not understand"  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/  
  
AN: Another chapter of this story finished! Hah! I'm writing more than usual these days. And I love it! So, guys, read & review. Ok?  
  
Thanks to: the Red Dragons Order 


	7. Chapter 7

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted... Alone, they can't survive... And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
AN: There is only one more chapter of this story except this one... Love y'all...  
  
/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Salazar was washing his face in a bathroom on the second floor when he heard students' voices.  
  
"I'd say, what a nice castle" one of them said and the Founder smiled widely.  
  
"Indeed, indeed" the other replied. "I mean, did you see all the corridors? And the secret passages? Why, it would take forever to figure them out"  
  
"Imagine, what if there would be a treasure hidden in a passage or another?" the first one said.  
  
"Yeah! Guarded by a monster!" the other one said excitedly. "And the one who kills the monster gets the treasure!"  
  
"But the monster is bad and huge!" the first one said, fantasizing.  
  
"And he can kill just by looking at somebody!" the other said, hitting his palms together.  
  
"That'd be wonderful!"  
  
Salazar realized that their idea would be wonderful. But not with a treasure... But with a protector of Hogwarts! A protector powerful and great that only one of the Founder's heirs could control. When all would seem lost, the protector would help even the scores. He left the bathroom, staring thoughtfully at things around him.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
"I love you" Steve muttered towards his wife.  
  
"I love you too" she replied sweetly. "What do you say we would have a child?"  
  
He opened his mouth in a small gap, before he smiled widely.  
  
"I'd love us to have one" he replied and leaned down to kiss her.  
  
And then, as if on cue, the door to their dormitory was snapped open.  
  
"What?!" the two asked, scowling.  
  
"Oops" Godric said blushing slightly. "Wanted to say dinner is ready. And that we have some news of the Fal'sil. They seem to have established a camp and all that. More details at the table and I shan't repeat myself, so you better come unless you want Helga to tell the tale"  
  
"Mother of all things good, no!" Steve replied, jumping up and both Godric and Rowena snickered. "Off to dinner, then!"  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Salazar flipped through his book of magical creatures, searching for a creature that could live for thousands of years and that would be ferocious enough to protect a castle. And that somebody could handle.  
  
"Flobberworm... goodness, no... Nundu... too short life-span and uncontrollable... Niffler... not at all what I would need. God, what type of an order does this book have?!" he asked himself desperately. It wasn't alphabetical, in the order of aggressiveness or life-span; it wasn't in the order of evolution; it was in no order at all! "Hippogriff... nope. Werewolf... how'd that get in here? Basilisk... goodness, no. If it escapes through the castle, it could kill no matter if the ones in front of it are friends or foes"  
  
He kept searching restlessly.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
In half a year, the students had already gone home, including Salazar's boy who had went home to his mother, Mrs. Slytherin. Meanwhile, Salazar had decided for the monster in the castle. It would be a basilisk. He could control it. So could his heirs, all of them. Parselmouth was a hereditary gift and once one member of the family had it, all his children and children's children and so on would. Unless something happened and they lost it again, which was not likely.  
  
And if they would lose it, who would control the snake?! But a smile crept across Salazar's face... he would make the place where the monster would remain in such a way that it could be opened only by a Parselmouth. Yes... a password... if you spoke Parselmouth, you could enter, if not, no.  
  
But where to put the entrance? So that nobody would suspect? Maybe in the Headmaster's office? No... it was quite obvious, as was the staffroom. The common rooms and dormitories were unsafe, as were the classrooms. No, it would have to be in a place where students went often enough not to be suspected, but not enough to be endangered by the beast if it went out...  
  
His eyes shone with an idea: the door! It would be in a bathroom and the snake could move through pipes!  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
"Jacky-o!" Kate said, beaming at the man in front of her. "Blue eyes!"  
  
"Why, yes..." he replied and grinned in return. "I like them better"  
  
"Simply wonderful!" she said and her facial expression changed. "Why did you need the Veil at the Ministry, anyway? I still don't get it!"  
  
"Ah, but you will... soon, I'm afraid" he said slowly, shaking his head. "Listen, Kate. You have heard of the Cloud of the Dark, haven't you?"  
  
"Yes, of course. There are very few of the immortals that haven't" she said. "What about it?"  
  
"Many things" the elder man relied. "Many, many things... It hunts for one right now. Do you know what happens if it enters a living creature and resides in it?"  
  
"Why, of course" she replied slowly. "It turns that one dark. He will serve the devil and the devil only, thinking it serves itself. And if that one dies, the living oldest heir will become host for the Cloud. And if that one dies, it will move to the next descendant of the first. Always in descendants of the first it resides, it cannot move up to his or her ancestors, but through his or her descendants, there will be no stopping it."  
  
"Of course" Jack replied. "It can also move in brothers or sisters... Alas, I have heard who it wants to take."  
  
"Who? It isn't one of the Four Founders of Hogwarts, no?" she asked slowly.  
  
"Of course not" he replied. "They are too pure. It has decided upon Roxana Chase..."  
  
"Roxana! No, you must do something! It would be horrible for the Chases to be dark..."  
  
"I know" Jack replied. "That is why I have sent my child to the White Stag for protection. But I do not know what will happen next... maybe the others won't be able to guard themselves against the Cloud and if it hurts Eagle, it will also hurt the Chases..."  
  
"Fuck!" she let out, before blushing. "Sorry about that..."  
  
But Jack didn't reply, instead staring thoughtfully at the sky. What horrible times they lived in...  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
The summer months passed away quickly and Salazar managed to get a basilisk and to create a room way lower than the castle in which the king of snakes would be able to stay for thousands of years if necessary. All he had to do now was tell the others about the place and... Or maybe he shouldn't tell them about it. If one of their heirs would fall into darkness... oh, my... and if it would be his own heir that would, a wizard would be able to finally take down the basilisk. But to admit it: it was more difficult for a single heir of a single Founder to fall into darkness than a single heir of ay of the Founders.  
  
So, should he tell them or not? Yes. Still, the answer would be yes. After all, it would be more difficult for all their heirs to fall into darkness... right? Right. And only his heir could control the snake, so it would be safer if the others knew, too.  
  
So, he sighed and went to bed. How should he tell them? Hmmm... They would go ballistic if they knew he had already taken care of everything before consulting them.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
AN: Sorry to be short, guys, but I couldn't write anymore so as not to step in the final chapter... That one will definitely be longer. So guys, please review... It means a lot to me. 


	8. Chapter 8

Title: The Four Founders' Hunt  
  
Author: Zimagesto  
  
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted... Alone, they can't survive... And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.  
  
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.  
  
AN: Ahem. This is the last chapter of this story. So, I'll beg you: if you haven't reviewed so far, do so now. It means a lot to me. And you may review even after a year or two or as many as you like after I finished it. It's always nice to know people like your story.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Chapter 8  
  
"Well, what I wanted to say is..." Salazar said slowly.  
  
"That you have a surprise!" Helga said excitedly.  
  
"Why, yes..." he replied and smiled widely, wondering how he would pull this off. The Chamber of Protection was a huge surprise and he knew it.  
  
"And this close to my birthday!" Godric said excitedly. "Amazing isn't it, that I am a Leo?!"  
  
"Of course, old buddy" Salazar replied laughing. "Well, what I wanted to say is that..."  
  
They were interrupted by a young man who entered the room and leaned on the door for support.  
  
"It's attacking! We've no clue what it is... I'm from the Fal'sil and we're just coming here, Eagle sent me forward... Hurry, we need you, wizards, there are beasts and there is... a Great Beast, oh God forbid!"  
  
The Four looked at each other with terrified eyes and Godric asked:  
  
"I say... but what happened and where are we to go?!"  
  
"Outside the castle. An army of beasts attacks and they are lead by a great beast. Our king asks for help. He's coming this way" the boy said, apparently having caught his breath.  
  
"Finally boy, you're making sense!" Salazar said. "Well, what are we waiting for?! On our horses! With our weapons and let's not forget our wands!"  
  
The other three nodded and hurried down the stairs, rushing to the paddock where they had their horses. Salazar was the first one to mount, quickly followed by Godric, then Rowena and Helga. The boy had no horse to mount.  
  
"Are we terribly outnumbered?" Salazar asked.  
  
"Yes, sir" the boy answered. "We'd need an army to overwhelm all the creatures lead by the Beast. That is why our King is fleeing before them"  
  
The Four Founders exited the paddock and Salazar told the others in a fast voice:  
  
"Do the Serpensotia as much as you can!"  
  
Then, he started speaking in Parseltongue, hissing and spitting, making the boy tumble back in fear and surprise. The other three were summoning all the snakes possible and soon there was an army of the cold blooded creatures all around Salazar while real snakes were coming out of the Forest, ready to answer his call. After a while, Helga stopped tiredly.  
  
"There are hundreds of snakes here" she said. "Should we go on, or is it alright by now"  
  
"It's fine" Salazar replied. "Don't tire yourself too much, I'll need you"  
  
Godric and Rowena summoned a few more snakes and then stopped. The Fal'silian boy had climbed into a tree and the horses were a bit afraid of the snakes all around, but Salazar had covered them in snakes before, so they managed.  
  
Soon after, a few men on horses came out of the Forest and stared at the fields of snakes.  
  
"By gum..." he muttered.  
  
"Indeed" Salazar replied. "Where are the others?"  
  
"Coming" he replied.  
  
In a few minutes, everybody, including Roxana, Eagle and Cassandra were out of the Forest.  
  
"Rowena!" the king said, spotting his friend. "My dear friend... this Beast opened a realm and it comes here with creatures that I don't even know the names of... How will we manage?"  
  
"Some of us are wizards and we can magically fight them. Besides, Salazar can control snakes and he will lead them into battle" she replied worriedly.  
  
"So that's up with the hundreds of snakes" Eagle said, slowly nodding.  
  
Salazar started hissing and the snakes gathered in a huge pile in front of him.  
  
"Humans, behind me!" he cried. "So that the snakes can protect us in first line!"  
  
The Fal'silians all rushed their horses behind Salazar.  
  
"Where can the children go?" Eagle asked Salazar.  
  
"In the castle" the other replied, slowly nodding towards the building, then hissing at his snakes which spread in front of them on a huge curved line, pretty hard to pass.  
  
"IN THE CASTLE, CHILDREN!" Eagle cried and the kids rushed their horses to the entrance of the building. "ENTER WITH YOUR HORSES"  
  
Salazar grumbled at that, but he didn't complain to the king. Instead, he got himself into a before-battle attitude, his nerves tensed, but his body loose while the others got themselves ready, too. Good old Godric, he took his sword in his right hand and his wand in his left and snorted, as if laughing at what would come. Rowena held her wand in her hand gracefully, in a way he had never noticed before. Helga was glaring at the Forest.  
  
"It's gonna be bad" Roxana Chase muttered to herself.  
  
After a few more tensed minutes, there were soft noises from the Forest and then a few ferocious beasts charged toward the men. But the snakes were quicker and they bit and took down the beasts easily.  
  
However, the first few creatures were, as they soon understood, the first line of the first line of creatures. Soon, they were pouring out of the Forest and the Fal'silians shot them down with either spells or arrows and the snakes bit all they could. However, the snakes were getting attacked and stepped on now, so they were dying slowly and surely.  
  
When the situation was starting to get desperate, however, the flood of creatures stopped, the bodies of their dead lying on the ground. There were hundreds and hundreds of them.  
  
"Where is the Beast?" Eagle muttered, before he said louder: "Where is the Beast?"  
  
When nobody replied, since they were busy finishing the last creatures, he cried out:  
  
"WHERE IS THE BEAST?"  
  
Salazar stared at him.  
  
"Maybe it's gone" he replied, shooting another one of the animals. Only a few dozen were left.  
  
Eagle had a very bad feeling about this, but he said nothing, instead shooting off a huge bear.  
  
And then, it came. It was huge. It was black and winged, with bat-like wings, with a lion-like black body, with a fury dragon-shaped head, with a lion's tail, only black. It gave a loud howl that made all the remaining animals scatter into the forest and it attacked. It jumped over the dead bodies of its animals and over Salazar's snakes. It moved with the speed of light towards Roxana Chase, who gave a loud shriek and raised her hands towards her head, in a protection gesture.  
  
However, just as the beast was about to reach her, a bright light came in front of her, repelling the beast. As it died and everybody could see again, they noticed the huge White Stag standing in front of her and her horse, glaring at the Black Beast with its brown eyes.  
  
The Beast growled before howling again and jumping towards Eagle, but the Stag hit it with its horns and it tumbled away. The Beast jumped up again, hit the Stag and ran towards the Founders, jumping at Salazar.  
  
It opened its mouth and roared loudly as Salazar took his sword in his hands and made to cut off its head. But the sword didn't get through the beast's thick and stone-hard fur, only managing to throw it a bit of course. It wasn't enough for the Beast to lose it's aim, though, instead it gripped Salazar's neck.  
  
That was it. He was dead and he knew it. He had closed his eyes and he was now waiting for the teeth to sink in his skin. However, they didn't. Instead, they loosened their grip and he felt something climb into his mouth, a soft feeling which grew more and more powerful.  
  
Salazar chocked and started throwing his fists in the air against the thick black cloud that now surrounded him, but it wouldn't go away. Instead, it went through his mouth and nose, down and up his throat, filling his entire body. He coughed and felt something weird take control of him, making him feel lost, but powerful, his grip softened and hardened in the same time, his senses became overwhelmed for a reason or another and, for a reason or another, he felt really horny.  
  
He fell on the horse, his face in its mane, feeling weird and somehow he felt as if he lost control over himself. It was like the Imperius... No, it wasn't. He wanted it. He wanted that new feeling to last. No, he hated it! Not knowing why, he gripped the horse with all he had, knowing he would have to remain there if he wanted to live. If he would let go, he would die...  
  
And then came darkness...  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
"He is a powerful being" Jack Strois said, pacing in front of the three Founders plus Roxana Chase and Eagle. "He might live"  
  
"Might?" Godric asked, scandalized. "My best friend might live?"  
  
"I am afraid it is not certain" Jack replied. "He is fighting against it"  
  
"What the hell was it, anyway?" Eagle asked.  
  
"The Cloud of the Dark" Jack Strois replied.  
  
"No. No!" Roxana said. "He can't be..."  
  
"I'm afraid he is" Jack said, slowly shaking his head. "It is in him. He might be able to repel it, though. He is a powerful man."  
  
"But he's in a coma" Godric said, slowly and in pain.  
  
"Ah, yes... But it has been so for only four hours, remember? After all, it happened quick. Roxana, child, did you understand why I sent you after the Stag?" Jack asked.  
  
"Yes, Master" she replied. "But you came so quickly after the battle, merely half an hour! It must be very serious"  
  
"It is" Jack replied. "It is... But right now, all we can do is wait for Salazar to either die or wake up. Then we shall see what we shall do"  
  
With a small turn, the man disappeared as he had appeared: quickly, quietly and unexpected.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Salazar Slytherin woke up and saw himself in the infirmary nobody was around. He laughed to himself and got up, rushing towards a certain bathroom. There, he hissed to the pipes and they opened. He smiled to himself as he entered the Chamber of Secrets. Because it would no longer be the Chamber of Protection! Here was his monster, the one that would help him gain Hogwarts for himself!  
  
He laughed and took out his wand and sculpted himself in the stones, quicker than he had thought possible. He felt so powerful, so wonderful! He then sculpted many statues of snakes and called his small one foot basilisk, but didn't look it in the eyes.  
  
-Sssssssweet- he hissed to the snake. -I wantsssss you to ssssssssmell me now. Until you feel my sssssssssmell, I don't want you to obey anyone, only ssssserve the one with my sssssmell-  
  
-Yessss, ssssire- it replied and gave a small nod.  
  
-Very well- Salazar said. -I'll leave you now-  
  
Salazar spelled some wings on his back and flew out through the pipes. He then rushed back to the infirmary and threw himself in bed, going straight back to sleep.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
One day... Two days... Three days... A week... Two weeks... Three weeks passed without a sign of life from Salazar. In turns, the other Founders watched over him so that he was never alone. And after twenty-two days, he woke. His eyes were cold and full of hatred when he saw Godric's face.  
  
"You" he spat. "I hate you!"  
  
"What?" Godric asked.  
  
"I hate you. I LOATHE YOU!" he cried.  
  
"Salazar, what are you talking about?" his friend asked.  
  
"Bloody bastard!" Salazar cried. "BLOODY BASTARD! You... You Imbecile! You always jump head-first into trouble! Cursed be your name!"  
  
"Hey!" Godric said, trying to calm him down. "What did I do?"  
  
"What did you do?!" the other asked, jumping out of bed and on his feet, putting his hands on Godric's neck and squeezing tightly, making him choke and cough. "You even dare ask!"  
  
Godric jumped and pushed Salazar away with brute force, smashing him against the wall next to the bed where Slytherin had been lying just five minutes ago.  
  
"What's wrong with you?!"  
  
"Lion!" Salazar cried, crashing nearly lifelessly from his position of leaning on the wall, while standing on four feet down on the bed. "You got the brute strength, but when it comes to power and brightness, I got the lion's share!"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Godric cried. "Are you out of your mind?!"  
  
"Fool!" Salazar said. "I own the school! I do!"  
  
He again jumped towards Godric, making for his neck, but the other took out his wand quickly and stunned him.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" he muttered and rushed to the other two Founders who he had an idea where they might have been.  
  
He ran down the corridors and into the staff room where Rowena and Helga were chatting about something.  
  
"Is he up?" Rowena quickly asked, seeing Godric panting and leaning on the door.  
  
"Oh, yes" he replied, his eyes narrowing. "But I liked him better when he was in a coma"  
  
"What?!" Helga asked, slightly gaping.  
  
"Exactly! He tried to kill me!" Godric said, still a bit in shock. "Jumped at me saying how much he hated me, how he got the lion's share in intelligence and power and I had brute strength and how I jump head-forward into everything and how he should own the school. All this while he tried to strangle me!"  
  
The two women stared at him.  
  
"You're joking" Rowena said slowly.  
  
"I'm not" Godric replied.  
  
"What did you do to him?" Helga asked, her mouth slightly open and tears in her eyes.  
  
"I stupefied him. Come with me and we'll see what we can do" Godric said, gesturing towards the door and the two women got up and exited.  
  
The way to the infirmary was long and quiet. Rowena was thinking, her eyes on the floor right in front of her. Helga had a disbelieving face, but tears in her eyes. She had seen that awful creature become a cloud that entered Salazar. She had seen him crash nearly lifelessly on the horse's back. She had then helped carry him to the infirmary. She had seen Jack Strois' concern three or four hours later. It would be true... But if Salazar turned against them, what would they do? If he tried to kill them, what would they do? They couldn't kill him, could they?  
  
They entered the room where Salazar was in a quiet procession. They made it to his bed and there, in a horrible position, half-hanging over the bed, his arms on the floor, his head hanging His feet were crouched in a painful way. Helga and Rowena picked him up and put him on the bed. Then, in a very quiet voice, Rowena muttered:  
  
"Ennervate"  
  
Salazar's eyes flickered open.  
  
"What? Where am I?" he asked, seeing the three.  
  
"In the infirmary" Helga answered.  
  
"What happened?" he asked slowly, staring at her face.  
  
"You had a fight with the Beast, remember?" she asked, holding his hand. "Are you ok now?"  
  
"I... I'm so weak..." he said and gave a slow hiss.  
  
Godric was staring amazed. This was definitely not the man who had tried to kill him less than half an hour before.  
  
"Help me get up" he pleaded to the kind woman.  
  
"Very well" she replied and put a hand under his shoulders, slowly pushing him. He hanged on to her for a while before he managed to push himself up and got to his feet.  
  
Rowena stared questioningly at Godric, but he shook his head, his eyes wide in surprise.  
  
Salazar gave a weak cough and leaned so hard on Helga that she nearly crashed.  
  
"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked.  
  
"Very sure" he replied with a weak smiled.  
  
Then, to everybody's surprise, he pushed her away with a new found burst of energy, his eyes glowing. Then, with the agility of a sprinter, he darted out of the infirmary towards a place the three couldn't figure out.  
  
"What the-?" Helga asked.  
  
"Told you he was crazy" Godric said and darted after Salazar, but the corridors were empty. The two women followed him.  
  
"We split up" Rowena said quickly. "I go down, Godric you go..."  
  
"No" he replied and shook his head. "One of us can't handle him"  
  
So, they searched the school together, but Salazar was not to be found.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
-You're back, massssster- the small basilisk said.  
  
-Yesssss, I am- Salazar replied. -Damn them! I cannot take the ssssssschool now... I'll have to wait, sssss-  
  
-I sssthought you wantssssssed to protect itsssss, no?- the snake asked.  
  
-Yesssss, but I can protectsssss it bettersssssss if I have itssssss- Salazar hissed in reply. -Remember, ssssssserve only the onessssss with my ssssssssmell-  
  
The snake smelled him, that certain something remaining forever in his mind.  
  
-Farewell, Ssssasssssha- Salazar hissed.  
  
-Farewell, Massssster- it replied.  
  
-Only thissssss time, call me Ssssssssssalazssssssssar Ssssssssslytherin!- he commanded and the snake nodded obediently and hissed:  
  
-Farewell, Ssssssssssalazssssssssar Ssssssssslytherin!-  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Rowena looked sadly at the students in front of her, the old and the new that were there at the beginning of the new school year, at the first and second year students that were standing in the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast.  
  
"I am afraid I have terrible, terrible news" she said, her eyes in tears. "Salazar Slytherin, Head of the Slytherin House and Founder of this school has" she paused to sniff "left us forever. He has had a quarrel with Godric Gryffindor and he insisted that only the pureblooded should remain at this school. Gryffindor denied him and he left the school never to come back..."  
  
The students stared at her as she sniffed and sat down. That Welcoming Feast was not the happiest one in history.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
{8 years later}  
  
"Helga" Godric Gryffindor said to his friend. "I have been told that Salazar is hiding somewhere near the English Magic Council. Perhaps we should-?"  
  
"We should, yes" she replied with a sad smile. "After all, he was one of us"  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
The three Founders made it to the English Magic Council and talked to the Councilor himself. Salazar Slytherin had been seen around the place for a while, so they decided to look for him. The three of them had long passed the first wave of grief for him and now wished to help him and make his life better, as much as they could anyway. The now insane man had once been the Great Salazar Slytherin, Snake Tongue himself, the one who had helped them with many things, the one who always had a sense of humor... and who was now insane.  
  
They started searching in the small forest near the Council and, after a few hours, they saw a strange man stare at them and laugh.  
  
"Salazar?" Godric asked.  
  
"Why, yes, I'm surprised you recognized me, hmsssss?" he replied and laughed. "Why are you here, old friend?"  
  
"We want to offer you a home" Godric replied.  
  
"Perhaps I don't want a home!" Salazar said with another insane laugh.  
  
"Come now!" Rowena said kindly and made a step towards him. Salazar gave a loud shriek and started running like the wind through the trees.  
  
"Wait!" Helga cried and they all ran after him.  
  
To their surprise, Salazar ran between the buildings of the Council and towards a weird building. He entered it and they all followed him in.  
  
It was a small dark room with only one piece of furniture, if you could call it that. It was a tall and ancient-looking archway with a black veil hanging from it.  
  
"ALL OR NOTHING!" Salazar cried laughing from next to the veil. "I was expecting you for a while now so that I could o this in front of you! This is the Veil of Death and if you pass through it, you die! Farewell, fellow Founders!"  
  
"Salazar, wait!" Godric cried, but the man walked through it.  
  
"Oh, my..." Helga said slowly. "Do you really think this is the Veil of Death?"  
  
"Yes, remember, the Councilor said they had it" Godric replied sadly.  
  
"So, he's dead" Rowena said slowly. "As dead as a rock"  
  
"He was dead before. I think he died when that Beast entered him" Helga said, sniffing. "Let's go home, guys... And break the news to his son"  
  
They turned and left the room.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
The three were in the staff room, talking to each other slowly. Sindar Slytherin was nowhere to be found. Apparently, he had disappeared shortly after the death of his father. There was nothing more to do.  
  
The door opened and they could see Eagle enter the room.  
  
"Hello" he said. "Is it true what I've heard? Salazar Slytherin killing himself at the Veil?"  
  
"Yes" Godric replied.  
  
"My condolences" he said slowly and Godric nodded slowly.  
  
"I guess he died a long time ago..." the brave man said, remembering Helga's words. "But what brings you here?"  
  
"Well, apparently, the animals in the Forest are gathering closer to Hogwarts, drawn by the magic here. You should forbid it to students" he said slowly.  
  
"The Forbidden Forest it is, then!" Godric said, smiling sadly.  
  
Eagle took a deep breath and sat next to the three.  
  
"There's something else" he said slowly. "I and my people... we're leaving. We're going into a different realm. Roxana chose to remain here with our daughter for a while, before she joins us. I guess we'll never see each others again, will we?"  
  
Rowena stared at him.  
  
"Different realm?" she asked, gaping.  
  
"Yes..." Eagle replied. "A land like we always wished for. We shall be there for awhile. Maybe a thousand years" he said, snorting. "Roxana will come in a few years, Jack said that our daughter must remain here, for some reason I don't understand"  
  
"I'll miss you" Rowena said and got up, went to him and hugged him tightly.  
  
"Miss you too" Eagle replied.  
  
The three bid him farewell and promised to take care of his daughter and wife. As Godric would say later, those were some of the saddest days of his life.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
Jack Strois sighed to himself. He had hoped that Salazar would manage to destroy the Cloud of the Dark, but apparently he had not been able to. Now, the curse would go down to his heirs, always the younger ones, since it would be harder to control men that were past a certain age, as was proven with Salazar. He had seen the struggle of the man against the Cloud. He had seen him attack Godric because the Cloud had understood that the mere sight of his best friend might give him strength.  
  
He had asked Roxana to leave her child in this realm since the Chases still had a great future. He had told Kate the truth about the Veil: he had hoped the one cursed by the Cloud would be killed in it, but he had never thought it would be Salazar.  
  
The War was not over. It had just begun and now it would sleep for awhile before it sprang again.  
  
Immune time, he watched as many things happened: he witnessed the birth of many Founder heirs, their lives and deaths. He saw how many of their characteristics passed on, although the names changed. He saw how the Slytherins were breeding qickly, the Cloud pushing them to do it. On the weak ones that would harbor it, it would only make them want to have children, so both weak men and women had tones of lovers. The powerful ones were captured by it from when they were children and slowly they became evil themselves. The Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors changed their names by time. He watched the Chases keep their name through time, due to their habit of naming their children like that, no matter if the mother was a Chase and the father had a different name. He saw that in the 18 hundreds the Trelawneys parted into two families, one keeping the name and one not. In fact, one side of the Gryffindor family had changed its name and forgot its origins. Some of the Ravenclaws became squibs and forgot they ever were wizards, but they kept their intelligence.  
  
And with great surprise, he witnessed that at the end of the 18 hundreds, their numbers started to decrease, but the families always survived...  
  
The War would soon come again.  
  
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-  
  
AN: Finished... Finished! I actually finished a multiple-chaptered story! mutters That's a first...  
  
So, what can I say? If you read this and want to know what happens next with this War, I have this story called 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch'. It's the beginning of the new part of the War.  
  
And again: This is the last chapter of this story. So, I'll beg you: if you haven't reviewed so far, do so now. It means a lot to me. And you may review even after a year or two or as many as you like after I finished it. It's always nice to know people like your story. But even flames will do!  
  
Thanks to:  
  
the Red Dragons Order: thanks for reviewing. Sincerely, I can't believe this story is almost over, either. Ah, well... I suppose it happens sometimes, no? :-)  
  
Finished today, June 29, 2004 at 11:20 AM.  
  
Posted June 30, 2004 at 9:19 AM. 


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